
Class 
Book 



ca yki ;irr deposit 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



VOLUME XXVI 



CONTAINING LIFE SKETCHES OF LEADING CITIZENS OF 



NEW LONDON COUNTY 



CONNECTICUT 



" Biography is the home aspect of history " 



BOSTON 

Biographicai Review Publishii many 

1898 



F7o2 



ATLANTIC STATES SERIES OF BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS. 



The volumes issued in this series up to date are the following: 



I. '. n. Nl « YORK. 

II. M vdison County, Ni w York. 
HI ntv, Ni w York. 

1\". Con mbia CouNTy, New York. 

\ . . County, New Vork. 

VI. I >i I W. C N • S ORK. 

VII. Livingston and Wyoming Counties, 

York. 

Vlll. Clinton and Essi x» 01 nties, New Vork. 

IX. II \mi-i>i n County, M issachusj 

X. Franklin County, M \ sai hi i 

XI, II IMPSHIRl COUN IV, M 

XII. Lit* h field ( , C01 n 

XIII. Vork C01 n ry, M 111 
XI \ m 1 -I'.. Maine. 

XV. Oxford ind Franklin Counties, 
Maine. 



XVI. Cumberland County, New Jersey. 
XVII. Rockingham C01 nty, New Hampshire. 
XVIII. Plymouth County, Massachusetts. 

XIX. Camden and Burlington Countii , 

New Jersey. 

XX. Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Kxox, and 
Waldo C01 nties, Maine. 

XXI. Strafford \m> Belknap Counties, 

New Hampshire. 

XXII. Sullivan and Merrimack Counties, 

NEM II \MPSHIRK. 

XXIII. Hillsboro and Cheshire Counties, 

New II VMPSHIRE. 

XXI Y. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
XXV. Norfolk County, Massachusetts. 
XX\ I. New London County, Connecticut. 



(graphical sketches published in this volume were submitted to their respective subjects or to the sub- 
■1. lined, for their approval or correction before going to press; :ind a reasonable 
tim. the return of the typewritten copies. Most of them were returned to us within the time allotted, 

or !».! <k was printed, after being corrected or revised: and these may therefore be regarded as reasonably accurate. 

il returned to us: and. as we have no means of knowing whether they contain errors or not, w( 
I to our readers, and to render this work more valuable for reference purposes, we hav< 

.1 small asterisk (*), placed immediately after the name of the subject. They will be founo 
• the book. 

B. K. l'l ! 



PREFACE. 



TRUE to our purpose ol bringing out in the closing years of the nineteenth 
centurv — a period of record searching and of record making such as, we 
venture to say, the world has never before known — an extended series of biographical 

works of special local interest and value, thus far within the limits of the Atlantic 
States, we issue herewith our twenty-sixth volume, devoted to contemporary worthies 
of New London County, Connecticut. Its pages set forth, in brief outline sketches, 
the character, connections, and activities of representative citizens of this ancient 
shire, showing what manner of men and women have succeeded to the possession and 
occupancv of the territory settled by Governor Winthrop and his followers, in many 
instances tracing lines of descent from the pioneers of old, showing who are the 
conservators of the goodly heritage to-day, and what they have done to prove their 
title to the vast heirship of privilege and responsibility, to win the respect and good 
will of their compatriots and deserve the remembrance of posterity. 

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING I 0. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 




[DNEY MINER, whose portrait 
appears on the opposite p;ige, 
was for many years a prominent 
citizen of New London, Conn., 
his native place, where he died 
on December 29, 1881, at 
seventy-six years of aye. He 
was a son of Frederick and Han- 
nah (Wood) Miner, the father a 
native of Stonington and the mother of Groton. 
Stonington was the home of the .Miner fam- 
ily for four generations or more; and Simeon 
Miner, the father of Frederick, spent his life 
there. Thomas Miner, an English yeoman, 
from Chew-Magna, Somersetshire, England, 
the first of the family to settle in America, 
came, it is said, with John Winthrop in the 
ship " Arhella. " He lived in Boston at first, 
was a member of the church in 1632, but soon 
removed to Hingham, Mass. ; and about the 
year [646 he 1 one to New London. In 1653 
he removed from here to Quiambog, where he 
spent the remainder of his life. The farm 
that he owned is still occupied by his descend- 
ants. He was but twenty-two years old when 
he left England, and he was married in Bos- 
ton. His son Ephraim married Mary Avery, 
June 20, 1666. Ephraim, Jr., son of 
Ephraim and Mary, married Mar}' Stevens; 
and their son Simeon married Hannah 
Wheeler. Simeon, Jr., son of Simeon, and 
the next in this line, was twice married, fust 
to Anna Hewitt, and second to Mary Owen, 



a daughter of "Schoolmaster" Owen, who was 
well known in that section of New London 
County. Frederick Miner, the father of Sid- 
ney, was the son of Simeon, Jr., by his so- 
marriage. He was a successful merchant. 
Three sons and a daughter were the fruit of 
his union with Hannah Wood, but all have 
now passed away. 

Sidney Miner, the special subject of this 
sketch, was largely interested in the whale 
fishery up to 1855. After that he engaged in 
the coasting trade as a merchant. He was 
actively interested in local affairs, and served 
on the Board of Aldermen of New London 
many years. In 1N51 and 1852 he built, on 
the site of one of the old block-houses, the 
handsome mansion-house in which he after- 
ward made his home with his family. The 
main portion of the house is forty-four by 
forty two feet in ground ana, with a large L 
adjoining, and is three stories in height, built 
of stuccoed brick. At the time of its erection 
it was one of the finest in the city, and it is 
not surpassed by many at the present time. 

Mr. Miner married lor his first wife Mary 
Ann Ramsdell, of Mansfield, Conn. She 
died at twenty-nine years of age, leaving 
three children, two sons and a daughter. 
Only the daughter, Mary Miner, is now living. 
She resides in California. Mr. Miner mar- 
ried for his second wife on April 25, 1844, 
Lydia J. Belcher, who survives him. Their 
union was blessed by the birth of a son and 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



daughter, both of whom have passed away, the 
daughter having died in infancy. The son, 

ph Lawrence Miner, died in September, 
1871 twenty-nine years. Mr. Miner's 

nd son, Frederick W. Miner, married Jen- 
nie Hale, and had two sons— Sidney II. and 
Frederick R. Sidney II. Miner married Lucy 
K. B 1 New London. They are living 

witli Mis. Miner at the family residence, 68 
Main Street, and have one son, Sidney Bishop 
Miner. Frederick Miner is unmarried, and 
1 ilifornia with his mother. 
Mis. Miner was born in Norwich, a daugh- 
ter of Colonel William and Sally (Wilson) 
Belcher, the former of whom was a native of 
Griswold, and the latter of Jewett City, this 

ity. The}' had eight sons and two daugh- 
ters, but only two survive at this day; namely, 
Mrs. Miner and her brother, Charles Belcher, 
wlio is living in retiremenl in St. Louis, Mo. 
Mi-. Minn- is a member of Dr. Blake's 
church, whose house of worship was erected 
under the supervision of Mi'. Miner at the 
same time that he was building his own 
house. 



~\) II.LIAM FITCH, late a retired mer- 




chant residing in Norwich, where 
he died December 22, 1880, was 
born in Bozrah, Conn., on October 27, 1800. 
He was the youngest son of Colonel Asa and 
Susanna il-'itch) Fitch, and was a descendant 
of James Fitch, who came to America in the 
ship "Defense " in 1 63 5. 

James Fitch, when sixteen years of age, 
ied theology under the instruction of the 
Rev. Messrs. Hooker and Stone, of Hartford, 
n., and was ordained at Saybrook in 1649. 
t remaining as pastor there fourteen years, 
the Rev. Mr. Fitch removed thence to Nor- 
wich with the larger part of his congregation, 
;»> l1 ed active in the work of the min- 



istry till very near the close of his long and 
useful life, his death occurring at Lebanon, 
Conn., November 18, 1702. He was a native 
of Bocking, County Essex, England, the date 
of his birth being December 24, 1622. The 
Rev. James Fitch married first, in 1648, Abi- 
gail, daughter of the Rev. Henry Whitfield. 
She died in 1659; and he married in Oc- 
tober, 1664, Priscilla Mason, daughter of 
Captain John Mason. He had fourteen chil- 
dren, six by his first wife and eight by the 
second. Their descendants are very numer- 
ous. Thomas Fitch, who settled in Nor- 
walk, Conn., and Joseph Fitch, who settled 
permanently at Windsor, and was the ancestor 
of John Fitch, the inventor, were brothers of 
the Rev. James Fitch; and a Samuel, school- 
master, who was married in Hartford in 1654, 
it is said "may have been another brother." 

Samuel Fitch, born in 1655, son of the 
Rev. James and Abigail (Whitfield) Fitch, 
is said by Stiles in his History of Windsor, 
Conn., to have been the ancestor of the Bozrah 
Fitch families. 

Colonel Asa Fitch, father of the subject of 
this sketch, was born in Bozrah, February 14, 
1755. He was a farmer and iron manufact- 
urer at Fitchville. By his first wife, Su- 
sanna, he had ten children, five sons and five 
daughters. The maiden name of his second 
wife was Mary House. 

William Fitch in his boyhood for some 
years worked on his father's farm summers 
and attended school winters. Later, in his 
sixteenth or seventeenth year, he attended 
m Academy at Colchester, where he com- 
pleted the course of study, and was graduated. 
He had always been fond of books and study, 
and he next applied himself for several terms 
to teaching school. At the age of twenty he 
began his business career, going with his 
brother Douglas to Marseilles, France, join- 



I'.IOCRAI'IIICAI. REVIEW 



ing in business their elder brother, Asa 
Fitch, Jr., who had been in New York City 
for some years, and who there founded the 
mercantile house of Fitch Brothers & Co., 
who sixty years ago and more were doing an 
immense commission business. In a volume 
entitled "Old Merchants oi New York City" 
we read thai nearly all the American vessels 
and American produce sent to Marseilles were 
consigned to "the great firm," also that the 
United government appointed this 

;ent of the navy, charged with supply- 
ing the provisions and making the payment, 
etc., "t the American squadron in the Medi- 
terranean. Returning to this country in [825 
or 1S26, Mr. William Fitch was engaged for 
about twelve years in the New York office of 
the house, having in this period entire charge 
of the same. Mr. Fitch returned to his native 
town in 1S48, and there remained until 1S5S, 
when he removed to Norwich. In this city 
he became the owner of considerable real es- 
The house that he bought in 1857 of 
Edward Worthington, and which has since 
been the family home, was built one hundred 
and thirty years ago or more by Colonel Will- 
iam Bradford Whiting, who sold it in 1771 to 
iah Lathi"]). A picture of this historic 
ion may be seen in the volume entitled 
"Old Houses of the Ancient Town of Nor- 
wich." 

Mr. Fitch was married October 14, 1857, 
to Mary E., daughter of Dr. Elias and Mary 
Ann (Hillhouse) Williams. A biographical 
sketch of Mrs. Fitch follows this. 



|RS. MARY E. FITCH, for many 
years a highly esteemed resident 
Norwich, was a daughter oi 
Dr. Elias W. and Mary .Ann (Hillhouse) 
Williams. Her paternal grandfather was the 




Rev. Joshua Williams, a native of Middletown, 
(-'•Min., and a man of great personal worth. 
lie married Mary Webb, who died in middle 
life sume years before her husband. They 
had six children, two sons and four daughters. 
Dr. Elias W. Williams was born in Harwin- 
ton, Litchfield Count)', Conn., September 16, 
1797. He was skilled in his profession, and 
was a man of cheerful disposition and genial 
and courteous manners. His career of useful- 
uas cut short in his thirty-first year, his 
death occurring September 16, [828. His 
wife, who survived him many years, died in 
[885, at the home of her daughter, Mis. Will- 
iam Fitch, at the advanced age of eighty-nine. 
They had two children — Mary E., and a son 
who died in infancy- 
Mary E. Williams received careful home 
training and as good an education as in those 
days was readily obtainable In' women. On 
October 14, 1857, she was married to William 
Fitch, a member of the family for which 
Fitchville was named. His father, Colonel 
Asa Fitch, who was born in 1755, at onetime 
operated an iron furnace in the town of I 
rah. His sons subsequently built, owned, and 
operated a cotton-mill in that town. This 
mill was three times burned, and twice rebuilt 
by Asa Fitch, Jr. In February, 17S1, 
Colonel Asa Fitch married Susannah Fitch, 
win 1 bore him five sons and five daughters. 
Alter her death he married for his second 
wile, in January, [816, Mary House, who sur- 
vived him some ye 

William Fitch was the ninth child and 
youngest son of Colonel .Asa and Susannah 
Fitch, and was born in the town of Bozrah, 
October 27, 1800. He became a member of 
the firm <>I" Fitch Brothers, commission mer- 
chants and importers "i New York City. 
Having inherited from his father's estate a 
goodly patrimony, he added to it from the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



results of his successful business career. A 
fuller account of his life and ancestry may be 
found in his own personal sketch, immediately 
preceding this article. Mr. and Mrs. Fitch 
had six children, ol whom four are now living. 
Their record in brief is as follows: William 
died at the age "I twenty months in i860; 
v, a young lady of great promise, died 
ruary 21, (890, at the age of twenty-two 
rs; Marian Hillhouse is the wife of Elihu 
G. Loomis, an attorney-at-law of Boston, 
Mass., and the mother of tour children; Susan 
Lee is Mrs. William R. Jewett, of Grand 
Rapids, Mich., and has three children; Eliza- 
beth Mason is the wife of William N. Wilbur, 
a manufacturer ol Philadelphia, Pa., and has 
three children ; and Sarah Griswold, the wife 
of Francis Hillhouse, of New York City, has 
musical talents of a high order, and is a 
skilled performer upon the piano. 

Mis. Fitch died at her home in Norwich 
town <m July 12, 18(17. The spacious stately 
looking house in which she resided is built in 
Southern Colonial style, and dates back more 
than a bundled years. It stands back from 
■the street, and is reached by a wide and beau- 
tiful private driveway leading from the foot of 
Norwich town green. The extensive grounds 
are beautifully cared for, and are shaded by 
tall old trees, which give one a feeling of 
being in the country, tar from the rush of city 
life. The mistress of this beautiful estate 
was a modest and genuine lady, unaffected and 
easily approached; and visitors to her home, 
however humble, were always courteously wel- 
comed. 



OHN MITCHELL, a prominent manu- 
facturer of Norwich, was born at Stour- 
bridge, England, in 1819, son of 
Thoi zabeth (Williams) Mitchell. 

her, who was born in 179S, came to 



America in 1828 with his wife and five chil- 
dren. He spent the first three years in New 
York City. Subsequently, in 1845, ne came 
to Norwich. He was an iron manufacturer, 
having learned the business in England, and a 
member of the Cold Spring Iron Company, 
which he established here and the Gosnold 
Mills in New Bedford, Mass., in 1855. He 
died in 1867, when sixty-nine years of age, 
having led a busy and successful life. Eliza- 
beth Mitchell, his wife, was a native of Bris- 
tol, England. They were the parents of 
nine children, of whom five sons and three 
daughters reached maturity. Of these Mary 
A., John, William, Elizabeth, Charles, and 
Emma are living. Mary A. is the widow of 
William Garner, and resides in Derby, Conn.; 
Elizabeth is the wife of George W. Geer; and 
Emma is the wife of Frank Davis. Except- 
ing Mrs. Garner, all reside in Norwich. The 
mother died in March, i860, at sixty-seven. 

At the age of thirteen John Mitchell left 
the district school, and became an apprentice 
to the iron business, which has been his chief 
occupation since. He has been connected 
with the Cold Spring Iron Works fifty years. 
Since 1879, when he purchased the Thames 
Iron Works, he has been the president of that 
corporation. Also for the past seventeen years 
he has been the president of the Richmond 
Stove Works, of which he was one of the 
founders. He is also interested in the Uncas 
l'aper Company, of which he was one of the 
original directors. 

On June 6, 1841, Mr. Mitchell was married 
to Miss Joanna Dexter Gibbs, a daughter of 
Captain Joshua and Deborah (Washburn) 
Gibbs, of Wareham, Mass. Her father, who 
was a sea captain, died in the prime of life, 
leaving two other children, namely: Azel W. 
Gibbs, of Norwich; and Mary B., the wife of 
Samuel B. Caswell, living in Los Angeles, 




[OHN MITCHELL. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



'S 



Cal. Her mother died in 1852, aged fifty-two 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell have had four 
sons, of whom two died in infancy. The 
others are: Albert Gibbs Mitchell, residing 
in Norwich, who is married and has one son; 
and Frank Arthur Mitchell, living in Ari- 
zona, who is married, and has one daughter. 
Mr. Mitchell has served on the Common 
Council for two years. For a quarter-century 
he has been a director of the Thames National 
Hank. He has been interested in the Nor- 
wich Savings Hank for about twenty-seven 
years and its president since 1895. He is 
also a director of the Crescent Fire Arms 
Company of Norwich, Conn., and a trustee of 
the Norwich Fn lemy and of several 

other institutions. A man of sound judg- 
ment, he has been very successful. Both he 
and Mrs. Mitchell attend the Second Congre- 
gational Church. They reside at 178 West 
Thames Street, where he erected his present 
home and settled in 1859, within a short dis- 
tance of the residence of his father. 




• 



|ARL J. VIETS, of New London, 
dealer in books, stationery, and fancy 
goods, is a lineal descendant of 
some of the original settlers of Connecticut. 
He was bum in East Granby, Conn., and is a 
son oi John Jay and Jane (Wadsworth) Yicts. 
The family is of German origin. The first 
progenitor in this part oi the country was a 
colonist from the vicinity oi Dorchester, 
Mass., who with a party under the leadership 
of ministers Hooker and Stone made the first 
settlement at Hartford. The exodus of these 
colonists took place in June, [636; and their 
journey to Hartford (named for Mr. Stone's 
birthplace in England) is vividly described in 
Ellis's Youth's History of the United States. 
vol. i. p. 117. Dr. John Viets settled in 



1 710 in Simsbury (now Last Granby), which 
has since been the home of the family. His 
grandson, Captain John Viets, who was the 
great-great-grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, was the first keeper of the old Newgate 
Prison at Simsbury, and during the Revolu- 
tion had Tory prisoners under his charge 
there. From his time to the present the male 
members of the family generally have been 
iged in agricultural pursuits. John Viets, 
Carl J. Viets's grandfather, died in 1858, at 
the age of seventy-five years. His wife was 
in maidenhood Abigail Eno, of Simsbury; 
and Amos R. Eno, of New York City, is a 
cousin of the present Mr. Viets. Mrs. Abi- 
gail Eno Viets survived her husband ten 
years, living to be fourscore, and is now rest- 
ing with him in the Last Granby cemetery, 
where sleep many generations of the family. 
She reared four sons and two daughters, of 
whom the only survivor is Ardelia, widow of 
Edward Bowers, and a resident of Hartford. 
The last to die was James Rollin Viets, a 
successful merchant and influential public 
man, who breathed his last in East Granby in 
July, 1896, at the age of seventy-five years. 

John Jay Viets was born in Simsbury (East 
Granby) in 1806. He was in business for a 
number of years in his native town, dealing 
extensively in general merchandise. Though 
a Republican in a strong Demoi ratic town, he 
was often called upon to take an active part in 
public affairs; and his ability was generally 
recognized. His death occurred December 
10, 1885. He was married in 1851 to Jane 
Wadsworth, of Larmington, Conn., daughter 
of Timothy Wadsworth. and a direct descend- 
ant of William Wadsworth, who was one oi 
the first settlers of Hartford, coming thither 
with the Rev. Mr. Hooker from the vicinity of 
Dorchester. Her mother's maiden name was 
Strong. Mrs. Jane Wadsworth Viets died at 



i6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



the age of sixty-one years, sixteen days after 
her husband's demise. They reared three 
children: Jennie A., wife of O. L. Livesey, 
now living in California near Los Angeles; 
: Hubert Wadsworth Viets, pro- 
prietor and manager of a large steam laundry 
in La Crosse. Wis. 

Carl J. Viets acquired his elementary edu- 
cation in the district school, and was gradu- 
ated at Columbia Institute at the age of seven- 
teen. Shortly after leaving school he obtained 
a position in the post-office at Windsor, 
Conn., and was Assistant Postmaster there for 
some five years. In the spring of 1 88 1 he 
was engaged as book-keeper for the Livesey 
Manufacturing Company in New London; and 
in i.SSS he purchased his present stand, buy- 
ing the whole estate of Charles Allen. As a 
book store this place of business has been in 
existence nearly sixty-eight years, having 
been established by the Howies Brothers in 
1830. Mr. Viets has a large and well-selected 
stock, ami controls a good business. 

He was married May 23, 1883, to Mary. 
daughter of Major William H. H. and Eliza 
(Smith) Comstock. She was born in East 
Lyme. Conn., and has lived in New London 
thirty years. Mrs. Viets also is of old New 
England stock. She is a member of- the 
Mayflower Society by right of five ances- 
tors, two on her father's side, and three on her 
mother's, all passengers on the historic craft. 
She is also a member of the Daughters of the 
Revolution; belongs to the Sons of the Revo- 
lution, which she joined as an honorary mem- 
ber, bein w ladies to have that 
distinction: and is a member of the Society of 
Colonial Dames, besides being eligible to 
ml of the more exclusive Colonial socie- 
One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. 
ts. a daughter, who died in infancy. 

Mr. Viets is .1 Republican politically, and 



he is now serving his third term as a Council- 
man of New London. He is a Master Mason, 
belongs to the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, and is also a member of the Sons of 
the American Revolution by right of two 
lines of descent, being eligible to the May- 
flower Society by virtue of being a descend- 
ant of John Alden. He has an attractive 
home on Granite Street, one of the charming 
residences in the vicinity of the park, into 
which he moved February 17, 1896. 




ANFORD NELSON BILLINGS, 

a skilful farmer and extensive land- 
owner of Stonington, Conn., was 
born May 18, 1841, in North Stonington, a 
son of Horatio N. Billings, and is of ancient 
Colonial stock. 

Roger Billings, probably the first of this 
surname in New England, came over about 
1635, and settled at Dorchester, Mass. His 
epitaph, which has been preserved in print, 
reads as follows : — 

Here lyetli buried 
ye Body of Roger 
Billings Senior aged 
63 years Departed 
this life ye i 5 day 
of No\ ember 
1683. 

William Billings, an ancestor of the subject 
of this sketch several generations removed, 
married February 12, 1658: and to htm and 
his wife, Mai)-, were born seven daughters 
and two sons, William being the eldest and 
Ebenezer, the next in line of descent, the 
youngest child. In 1680 Ebenezer married 
Annie Comstock, who bore him five daughters 
and an ecpial number of sons, among them 
being Ebenezer and Increase. The latter, 
their eighth child, born May 13, 1697, settled 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



'7 



in Ledyard, Conn. Ebenezer Billings, Jr., 
their second child and first son, was the next 
in this line. He was born January i, i 
and on April 2, 1706, married Phebe Denni- 
son, by whom he had eleven children, six oi 
them being sons. The line was continued 
through their third child and second son, 
Ebenezer, third, born March 20, 171 1. He 
married Mary Noyes on November 20, 1733, 
and had four sons and four daughters. San- 
ford, the second child and first son, born 
April 21, 1736, was named in honor of an 
uncle or aunt who had married into the family 
of George Sanford. Sanford Billings married 
Lucy Green, daughter of Janus Green, whose 
wife, it is said, was a direct descendant of 
John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, immortal- 
ized by Longfellow. Nine sons and two 
daughters were born of this union, Gilbert, 
the fifth son and child, being the grandfather 
of Sanford Nelson Billings. 

Gilbert Billings was horn November 25, 
. on the old homestead in Stonington. 
He married Lucy Swan, by whom he had 
eleven children, eight sons and three daugh- 
ters; and of these two sons and one daughter 
died in early life. A daughter, Lucy, was 
twice married ; and one of her grand-daughters, 
whose father was a surgeon in the Twenty-first 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, commanded by 
General Grant, now lives in Illinois. A son, 
Robert Billings, married Calista Kinney, and 
at his death left one son, Gilbert, >>t Mill 
Town. Sanford Billings, second, another 
son, a young man ol great promise, went West 
1 surveyor when young, and died in Illi- 

Horatio V Billings was born in 1803, and 
married on January 30, 1838, Mary Ann Fish. 
lie was a seafaring man, ami in 1849 or 1850 
went to California as first mate of a sailing- 
vessel, lie was heard from soon after his 



arrival, but never afterward. Mrs. Hillings 
strug- led nobly to educate their four children; 
namely, Lucy II., Sanford Nelson, Edward 
!•]., and Mary A. Lucy H. Billings became 
the wife of John L. Spalding, and died in 
[88l, aged forty-two years; Edward E. is a 
farmer in North Stonington; and Mary A. is 
the wife of Charles D. Thompson, of North 
Stonington, and has twin daughters. Mrs. 
Spalding, wdio possessed rare literary ability 
and artistic talent, was educated at Cooper In- 
stitute in New York, where she won the first 
[iri/e medal in art. She wrote much for the 
press; and in 1.S71 a volume of her poetical 
works was published by J. B. Lippincott, 
bearing the title of "The Ruined Statues and 
Other Poems,'' by Louise Billings Spalding 
(her pen name). She was twice married, but 
had no children. 

Sanford N. Billings began the battle of life 
on his own account when a lad of sixteen, 
working as a farm hand for his uncle, Ben- 
jamin F. Billings, in Griswold, this count)-. 
At the age of eighteen he began farming on 
the old homestead farm that his early ances- 
tor, William Billings, had taken from the 
government, and a portion of which has since 
been in the family, being now owned by a 
cousin of Mr. Billings. In August, [862, 
Mr. Billings enlisted as a private in Company 
G, Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteer Infan- 
try. Six months later he was detached, and 

1 year and a half was turnkey of the jail at * 
Norfolk, \'a. Rejoining his regiment at 
Washington, N.C., he was taken prisoner in 
front ot Richmond on May [6, 1864, and con- 
! to Libby Prison and two weeks later 
to Anderson vi lie, where he was confined until 
fall of 1864. He was then taken to 
Charleston, S.C., thence three weeks later to 
Florence, ami from there to Wilmington, 
N.C., and afterward to Goldsboro. Mr. Bill- 



1 8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ings had in the meantime endured untold 
horrors, and, having suffered a shock, had be- 
come so reduced that he could scarcely walk. 
He had barely clothes enough to cover him; 
but in sheer desperation he and a comrade 
wandered away, and were fortunately picked 
up by some of the boys in blue. Mr. Billings 
w.is so feeble in mind that he knew not his 
name or where he was; but after weeks of 
faithful nursing he was partially restored, and 
as soon as able was sent home, arriving here a 
mere shadow of himself. He had weighed 
(me hundred and seventy-five pounds when in 
his normal health, but after becoming conva- 
lescent lie wi 'wit ninety-four. Though 
he escaped the missiles of death that flew 
around him in battle, he suffered worse agonies 
than were ever caused by a bullet's wound, 
his prison life having been a veritable "hell 
upon earth," the very memory of it even now 
overshadowing him with a sickening horror. 
While he was in Andersonville, his mother 
died on tli niestead. 

Mr. Hillings has since turned his attention 
to agricultural pursuits in Stonington and 
North Stonington, paving much attention to 
stock-raising, a part of the time having been 
in partnership with W. W. Billings; but he is 
now more interested in dairying. In 1873 he 
took possession of his present fine farm, which 
was presented to him by William W. Hillings, 
ol Xew London. He also owns another farm 
and two tracts of land, amounting in all to 
some three hundn 

Mr. Hillings was married October 28, 1867, 
to Miss Lucy E. Main, oi North Stonington, 
a daughter of Charles H. and Almira (Eglcs- 
Main. Mr. and Mrs. Hillings have eight 
children, the following being their record: 
11. born January 4, [869, is foreman of 
the Wilcox Fish Works at Mystic: Mary, 
bom . : . 15, 1871, married Arthur G. 




J L 



Wheeler, and has one son and one daughter; 
William W., a farmer, resides in Stonington; 
Lucy was born June 20, 1881; Grace W. was 
born December 18, 1882; Lilla M. was born 
(uly 6, 1886; Priscilla Alden was born May 
29, 1892; and Sanford N,, Jr., was born Au- 
gust 17, 1895. Mr. Hillings is a decided Re- 
publican in his political affiliations, but has 
never aspired to official honors. He is a mem- 
ber of the J. F. Trumbull Post, No. 82, 
G. A. R. 

YRUS G. BECKWITH, a dealer in 
meats and groceries and a substantial 
citizen of New London, was born 
December 3, 1841, in the town of Waterford, 
this county, son of James and Nancy S. 
(Caulkins) Beckwith. Jason Beckwith, the 
father of James, and also a native of Water- 
ford, had ten children, seven sons and three 
daughters, of whom James was the sixth or 
seventh in order of birth. Both parents lived 
to an advanced age, and were buried in Water- 
ford. 

James Beckwith, who was born September 
12, 1803, followed the occupation of ship- 
builder, first in Waterford and later in New 
London, whither he came about the year 1850. 
He built coasting-vessels principally, of from 
one to three hundred tons' burden, and had a 
fair-sized business. In 1865 he retired, and 
returned to Waterford, where he died when 
seventy-two years of age. After his return to 
his native town he was elected to the State 
legislature on the Democratic ticket, and 
served two terms. In religious belief he was 
a Baptist and for many years a Deacon in the 
church. James and Nancy S. (Caulkins) 
Beckwith had four children, all of whom are 
living. They are: Cordelia, the wife of Sid- 
ney A. Smith, residing in Waterford; James 
E. Beckwith, a retired farmer, and the Town 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Clerk of Waterford, which he h;is also served 
in other offices, including that oi Representa- 
tive to the State legislature; Elisha P. Beck- 
with, who resides in New London; and Cyrus 
G., the subject of this sketch. The mother 
died in 1847, when Cyrus G., the youngest 
child, was but six years old. The father 
afterward married Mrs. Eliza Keeney Fox, 
who survived him some years. Me died when 
seventy-two years of age. 

Cyrus G. Beckwith completed his education 
in New London at the Bartlett High School. 
When seventeen years of age he became a 
clerk in the grocery store and ship-chandlery 
of Comstock S: Miner, with whom he remained 
three years. He then started in business for 
himself in blast New London. Twelve months 
later he sold out and formed a partnership 
with N. L. Smith, with whom, under the 
style of Smith & Co., he carried on a giocery 
business at the comer of State and Bradley 
Streets for two and a half years. Mr. Beck- 
with then sold out, and afterward was a travel- 
ling salesman for a firm of wholesale grocers 
in New York City for fourteen years, princi- 
pal!)' in Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 
1878 be left the road and opened a grocery 
store at the corner of Bank and Pearl Streets, 
in this city. After being alone some yea is, 
he took in Arthur Keefe, his clerk, as a part- 
ner, after which they purchased property on 
Hank Street and started a store. This venture 
prospered, and they became one of the leading 
grocery firms in this place. In 1894 Mr. 
Beckwith sold his interest to his partner, and 
on January 1, 1895, in company with his son, 
J. Allan Beckwith, opened their present gro- 
cery store and market. 

In February, 1863, Mr. Beckwith married 
Augusta A. Dart, a daughter of Captain Sam- 
uel B. and Adeline (Hand) Dart, of New 
London, both of whom have passed away. 



Her father was a sea captain. Mr. and Mi-. 
Beckwith have lost one son. Their surviving 
son is J. Allan Beckwith, referred to al 

A Democrat 111 politics, Mr. Beckwith 
served in the Common Council for three terms, 
was State Senator in 18S7 88, and a deb 
to the National Convention in 1892 and 1 
In the fall of [894 he was a candidate for 
Congress. In 1896 he was elected to the 
legislature, and was hi- party's candidate for 
Speaker. In the fall election oi [897 be was 
elected Mayor oi New London by the largest 
majority received by any chiei magistrate "t 
this place. He is a member of the Hoard of 
Trade, a Master Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Red 
Man of the Improved Order, and a Captain on 
the Major's staff of Putnam Phalanx, an inde- 
pendent military company. The family reside 
at 60 Hempstead Street, in the beautiful home 
that he purchased about twenty years ago, and 
which, facing the Park, affords a fine view of 
the Thames R i\ er. 



I) 



ANIEL BURROWS SPALDING, a 
banker of Stonington and a son oi 
Daniel Brown and Lui \ Bi eed 
(Grant) Spalding, was born in Preston, New 
London County. April 14. 1843. The Spal- 
dings are of English origin. Edward Spal- 
ding, who came to this country about II 
was one oi the first settlers of Brain! 
Mass., where, accoi ling to the old records, he 
owned realty and filled a pi Ik- 

was made a freeman ol the town in 1(140, a 
fact that proves he was also a member of Mane 
church there. He dii : February 26, [670. 
A copy of his will, dated April, [666, and 
proven in 1670, is still 1 i most inter- 

esting and valuable document. He left much 
property and considerable sums of money to his 
sons, who were then wealth) land-owners in 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Plainfield and Killingly, Conn. His children 
were: John, Edward, Benjamin, Joseph, An- 
drew. Grace, and Dinah, all of whom left 
large families. The Spaldings are now 
scattered all over the United States. Of Ed- 
ward's sons. John is a lineal ancestor ol 
Daniel Burrows, the subject of this sketch. 
fohn had a son John, whose son Samuel, also 
a native of Plainfield, had six children, one of 
whom was Jedediah. Asa Spalding, horn in 
Plainfield, Octobei 6, 1751. son of Jedediah, 
was the grandfather of Daniel Burrows. He 
studied medicine with Elisha Perkins in his 
native town, and became a noted physician. 
He was also an ordained evangelist in the 
Baptist church, and was one of the leading 
Deacons, but not a regular pastor. He was at 
the s Fort Griswold in 17.S1, whereby 

his knowledge of surgery he saved the life of 
a wounded soldier. His death occurred in 
the place now called North Stonington on 
February 21, 1811. He had fourteen children. 
His son, D.miel Brown, was a farmer in his 
earl_\- days, and lived at one time in Pitcher, 
nango Comity, WW, which was then 
bed only by water. Daniel moved to 
Preston, Conn., but stayed there for only one 
year. Then : to Stonington, where he 

spent the rest of his life. In 1843 he en- 
d in business with his wife's brother, 
(diver B. Grant, a prominent business man of 
the town. Mr. Granl was one of the incor- 
porators of the Stonington Rank, served on its 
Pon I 0! Directors, and was its secretary, 
and afterward president. Mr. 
Spalding was an efficient worker as colporteur 
and evangelist tor the Baptisl denomination 
in Stonington. He died in 1866. Mis wife, 

1 1 di cent, was horn 

in North Stonington, October 13, 1810. 

man ied May 10, 1832. Of their 

1 two died in infancy; and one. 



Frederick William, died at the age of five. 
The mother died October 25, 1888. 

I laniel Burrows Spalding was but seven 
months old when his parents moved to Ston- 
ington. After attending the public schools 
in the town for a time, he studied at a private 
school under old Dr. Hart and later at the 
Seliofield Commercial School in Providence, 
R.I. When he left school, in 1864, he en- 
tered the bank as assistant treasurer to his 
uncle. When Mr. Grant became the presi- 
dent in 1876, Mr. Spalding was made the 
treasurer and the secretary, which offices he 
has since filled. He was the president of the 
Uncas National Bank of Norwich, Conn., for 
two years, a director of the First National 
Bank of the same place, and he is a director 
of the Stonington Building Company in Ston- 
ington. 

Though an ardent Republican in politics, 
Mr. Spalding has never sought office; yet he 
has been a Burgess of the town for four years, 
and he was elected a Warden, but he did not 
qualify. . In 1875 he married Drusilla R., a 
daughter of Ebenezer W. and Elizabeth Dun- 
can Parlow, of New Bedford, Mass. Mr. and 
Mis. Spalding have lived in their present 
home since March, 1S75. The house, which 
was erected in 1837, by Charles II. Smith, a 
contractor, is one of the fine old residences of 
Stonington. 




VAyiUTAM PARKINSON GREENE, 
an old and respected resident of 
Norwich, was born in this city, 
March 26, 1X31. He comes of a long line of 
American ancestors, being descended from 
John Greene, who sailed from Southampton, 
England, in April, 1635, in the ship "James" 
ol London, and arrived in Boston on the 3d of 
June. John Greene was accompanied by his 
wile and live children — John, Peter, James, 



IMiiC.kAi-HK'Al. REVIEW 



23 



Thomas, and Mary. An associate of Roger 
Williams in the Providence purchase oi 1638, 
he became proprietor ol a tract of land on the 
Providence River in [642, and was one of the 
original purchasers of Shawshomet in [642 
43. 11 is wife died in 1643. In [644 he 
went to England on business, and while there 
married his second wife, Alice Daniels. lie 
died at Warwick, R.I., aboul 16591 and was 
buried at Conanicut. (Further information 
erning John Greene may be found in Ar- 
nold's History of the State of Rhode Island, 
Palfrey's History of New England, Savage's 
Genealogical Dictionary, and the Lives . . t 
Roger Williams by James D. Knowles and 
William Gamwell. See also New England 
Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. iv. 

P- 7>-> 

The line of descent from John Greene is 
through Thomas, born in England in 1631, 
who died at Warwick, June 5, 1 7 1 7 : .Na- 
thaniel, born April 10, 1679, who lived in 
li'istim a number of years, dying there August 
8, 1714; Benjamin, born in Boston, January 
12, 1712, died in 1 776; to Gardiner Greene, 
who was hum in September, 1753. An emi- 
nent merchant, he was one of the leading 

iciers and capitalists of the first qua 
oi this century. His residence was in Boston, 
on Tremont, near the head of Court Si < 
Mi-- site of his mansion and grounds, which, 
extended to Somerset Street, is now covered 
by Pemberton Square and the rooms of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions. Gardiner Greene died December 
19, 1832. I le was thrice married. His first 
wile was Ann Reading. His second, to 
whom he was married in Boston, November 
28, 17SS. was Elizabeth Hubbard. She was 
burn March 23, 1760, and died September 7, 
1797, in Huston. The children of his second 
marriage, who wen' born between 1790 and 



1795, were: Mary Ann, who married Samuel 
Hubbard, and died July io, [827; Gardiner, 
who died in \~<)~: Benjamin Daniel (M.D. . 
who married Margaret M. Quincy, and died 
ber 4, [862; and William Parkinson, 
the father of the subject "t this sketch. 
The third wile of Gardiner Greene was 
Elizabeth Clarke Goplcv. whom he married 
July 3, 1800, in London. She was born in 
Boston, November 20, 1770, and was a 
daughter of the great portrait and historical 
painter, John Singleton Copley, and a sister 
of the celebrated Lord Lyndhurst. The 
children of this marriage (born between 1802 
and 1817) were: Gardiner, who died February 
20, 1810: Elizabeth Hubbard, who died De- 
cember 12, 1854, wife "I Henry Timmins; 
Susanna, wdio died March 22, 1844, wife of 
Samuel Hammond; Sarah, who died in Paris, 
February 26, 1863; John Singleton Copley, 
win 1 married fust Elizabeth 1'. Hubbard and 
md Mai)- Ann Appleton; .Martha Babcock, 
wile of Charles Amory; and Mary Copley, 
wil' uf James Sullivan Amory. 

William Parkinson <■ Sr., son oi 

Gardiner ami Elizabeth (Hubbard) Greene, 
was born in Boston, September 7, 1795. lie 
acquired his elementary education in the i 
ton schools, and entered Harvard in 1810, 
one of the class which enrolls upon its 
catalogue the names oi President James 
Walker, Dr. F. W. 1'. Greenwood, .\\i<\ the 
historian Prescott, who was for a time his 
room-mate. Gi iduating at nineteen, in 1 
pliance with his father's wishes he entered the 
law office of his brother-in-law, Samuel Hub- 
bard, Esq.; and he subsequently became Mr. 
Hubbard's partner. Boston was at that time 
the centre of religious and philanthropic en- 
terprises, and Mr. Greene tame into contact 
with many of the leaders ol public thought. 
Judson, Evarts, Channing, Kdward liverett, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



and Lyman I i were his contemporaries. 

John A. lams, the Nestor of the legal pro 
sion, was living. William Prescott, Harri- 
son G. (His, ami Josiah Quincy upheld the 
dignity of the bar; and on Court Street, in 
1816, was to be seen the sign, "Daniel 
Webster, Attorney and Counsellor-at-law." 
New party lines were forming, and political 
aspirants had unusual opportunities. Mr. 
Greene had his opportunity, but refused; and 
only once did he accept public office, serving 
with credit as Mayor of Norwich. 11 is career 

i lawyer was short. His lather had in- 
vested largely in domestic manufactures, and 
had placed considerable capital in the Thames 
Company al Norwich Falls, established by 
him and other Boston capitalists in 1823; 
and be shortly received from his father as 
a gift the whole amount invested in this city, 
■ Hi condition that he should move hither, and 
take the property under personal charge. 

ling health — a warning hemorrhage — in- 
fluenced his decision; and in the summer of 
1824 he entered on his new life. Within a 
after his arrival in Norwich he was at 
the head of the movi ment which resulted in 
the organization of the Thames Hank; and he 
was its first president, and held office sixteen 
He was the first and largest contrib- 
utor to the fund for impnn ing the water-power 
ot the Shetucket River; and in 1826-27 be 
with others inaugurated measures tor improv- 
ing the educational advantages of the com- 
munity. Ir, the spring of 1829 his plans for 
utilizing the Shetucket watei powei were car- 
ried int.. effect by the .Norwich Water Powei 

pany, their work being completed the 
1" ar; and in [832 the Thames Com- 
which be was an original director, 
built thi n-mill on the Shetucket, 

and h portion of the completed water- 

power, i ieir manufactures included cotton 



and iron. In the panic of 1837 this company 
failed; and their work was afterward carried 
on by the Falls Company, of which also Mr. 
I ireene was a director. In 1830 the people of 
Norwich began to agitate the subject of con- 
structing a railroad between this city and 
Worcester; and it was through Mr. Greene's 
personal influence that the credit of the State 
of Massachusetts was obtained. In the crisis 
of 1837 most of his fortune was swept away; 
but with the aid of his brother, Dr. Benjamin 
D. Greene, he was soon on his feet again. 
In 1838 he, with his brother Benjamin and 
Mr. Samuel Mowry, organized the Shetucket 
Company. The Falls Company was organ- 
ized in October, 1843; ami the two companies 
had a prosperous career. (An extended ac- 
count of the operations of these companies and 
Mr. Greene's work in connection with them 
is found in "The Life and Character of the 
Hon. William Parkinson Greene, by Elbridge 
Smith, A.M., published in 1865.) 

His indomitable energy and far-reaching in- 
telligence, bis generosity and wisdom, had 
much to do with establishing the foundations 
of the thriving city of Norwich. A gifted 
lawyer, successful manufacturer, and brilliant 
financier, he was also a philanthropist and a 
patron of religious and educational enter- 
prises. Funds contributed by him placed the 
Norwich Free Academy on an assured basis, 
and his influence established some of its most 
important features. He was president of its 
corporation and Hoard of Trustees from 1S57 
to the time of his death. He also contributed 
generously toward the erection of the Meth- 
odist church on Sachem Street. From early 
youth he had suffered from a pulmonary com- 
plaint, and death was ever at his side; but his 
iron will refused to succumb, and he lived to 
be nearly seventy years old. He passed away 
on the morning of June 18, 1864. He was 




ASA BACKUS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



27 



married July 14, 18 19, to Augusta Elizabeth, 
daughter of Leonard Vassal! Borland, a lady 
of rare accomplishments and winning manners. 
On September 7, 1859, the birthday of her 
husband and of the city, Mrs. Greene put 
into the hands of the treasurer of the Norwich 
Free Academy a deed of the estate now occu- 
pied by the principal. 

William Parkinson Greene, the direct sub- 
"I this sketch, son of the late linn. Will- 
iam Parkinson Greene, was educated in the 
Norwich Free School and the Cheshire Acad- 
emy, which was then in charge of Professor 
Paddock, Bishop Paddock's father. His 
health was poor, and he did not follow an ex- 
tended course of study; hut when he attained 
his majority he began to take an interest in 
the manufacturing business established by his 
father. He has been a director in the mills 
at Shetucket and at the Falls. The Ho/rah 
mills, which were established about 1813, and 
were in need of new management in 18791 
were bought by Mr. Charles Kenyon ami Mr. 
James l'eckham, who organized a new com- 
pany. Mr. Greene is at present the senior di- 
rector of these mills, the only one of the - 
inal hoard living, and the principal stock- 
holder. He has a beautiful home at 170 
Washington Stn 

On October [8, 1854. Mr. Greene was 
united in marriage with Theodosia, daughter 
of Benjamin Wildman Tompkins. Mr. 
Tompkins, who was born September 3, 1808, 
was a prominent citizen of Norwich, active 
and zealous in secular and church matter 1 -, and 
lived for many years at 172 Washington 
Street. He died February 3, 1892. Mr. and 
Mrs. Greene have two children — An 
Borland and Benjamin Tompkins, both unmar- 
ried and living with their parents. Mr. 
ne, though interested in tin- welt. ire of 
the Republican party, has refused all offers oi 



public office. He is a member of the Centre 



Congregational Church. 




SA BACKUS, a retired merchant and 

capitalist of Norwich, residing mi a 
tine farm to the west and just out- 
side the city limits, was born in this town, 
July J 1, [836, son of A -a and Caroline 
(Roath) Backus. The family came originally 
from England, the first representative in this 
country of whom there is record being Will- 
iam Backus, who was a resident of Saybrook 
in 1637. In 1660 a member of it came from 
Saybrook to Norwich, and took up his resi- 
dence in a house that is still standing. 

The first Asa Backus was born in 1736. 
I lis son Asa, Jr., was bom May 12, 1 763. 
The third Asa, son of the preceding Asa, and 
the father of the present bearer of the name, 
born in Norwich in 1803, died in June, [836. 
He was reared to farming. Though he re- 
ceived hut a limited education, h ncr- 
ously endowed by nature, and was successfully 
engaged in a mercantile business as a member 
of the firm of Hyde & Backus at Yantic vil- 
' the year [831 he was married to 
Miss Caroline Roath. The union was blessed 
by the birth of three children: Caroline, who 
died in [861; Cynthia M.; and Asa. The 
mother married a second time. 

Asa Backus, the subjed oi this biography, 
was a student in the Andover Phillips Acad- 
emy for a time. When about sixteen years of 
he entered the employ of Ely & Co. as 
clerk, remaining with them three years. In 
the fall of 1S57 he went to Toledo, Ohio, 
where he was employed in the same capacity 
for a short time. In 1858 he became a mem- 
ber of the dry-goods firm of Eaton & Backus, 
which, from a small beginning, develop, 
profitable business. lie retired from busi- 






BIOGK VPHICAL REVIEW 



ness in i N 7 5 : and, returning to Norwich, he 
settled on his fine country home just outside 
the city limits. Thi i was pur- 

chased by him in the fall of [874 from C. 15. 
Rogers. Enlarged by additional land, bought 
since then, it now contains about twenty-five 
acres. On it arc three good dwellings, 

Mr. Backus first married Miss Julia \V. 
Mi -sell, nt Lockport, N.V. She died in De- 
cember, 1891, leaving three children, namely: 
William, who lives in Toledo, Ohio; 
and Julia R. and Fri I racy, w ho are at 

home. A second ;e, contracted in 

Mr. Backus to Mrs. Sarah G. 
(Button) Champlin, of Norwich. They have 
daughter, Floren In politics Mr. 

Backus is an Independent. lie is a director 
of the old Norwich Savings Bank, which has 
over eleven millions on deposit. By the will 
of the late William W. Backus he was made 
Utor of the large and valuable estate left 
by the latter. He is the secretary and treas- 
urer of the Norwich Mutual Assurance Com- 
pany, which was established in 1794; the 
secretary and treasurer of the Kitemang Asso- 
ciation of Norwich: and one of the original 
rporators of the Backus Free Hospital 
of the finest institutions in 
the St.; 




"-Ill A C. LEFFINGWELL, an en- 
' ising dairy farmer oi Bozrah, was 

1 in this town. May 9, [836, son of 

ia B. and Mary A. (W Iworth) Leffing- 

well. His father was a native of Bozrah, as 
was also his grandfather, Christopher Leffing- 
well. 

ol thi family in Amerii 
ngwell, an Englishman, who emi- 
I the middle of the seventeenth 
century, settled in Saybrook, Conn., 



where bis daughter Rachel was born in 1648, 
a son Nathaniel in 1656, and other children 
between those dates. A few years later 
Thomas Leffi ngwell was living at his new 
home in Norwich. According to Trumbull, 
the early historian, he received a deed of 
a tract of land a number of miles square, 
the site of the present city of Norwich, 
from Uncas, sachem of the Mohegans, for 
his services in carrying a boat-load of pro- 
visions to the fort in which that friendly 
chief and his warriors were besieged by the 
Narragansetts. "There is, however," says 
Miss Caulkins in her History of Norwich, 
"no such dved or record." To this statement 
she adds that Mr. Leffingwell, petitioning the 
General Court in 1667 to confirm a grant of 
land that Uncas had proffered him, received 
from that body the grant of two hundred acres 
on the east side of the Shetucket River. 

Deacon Joshua B. Leffingwell, son of Chris- 
topher Leffingwell, was a stirring farmer; and 
in connection with tilling the soil he operated 
a stone quarry. In politics he was originally 
a Whig, but joined the Republican party at 
its formation. He rep.resented his town in 
the legislature, and was a man of prominence 
and political influence in Bozrah and vicinity. 
He was a Deacon of the Baptist church. He 
died March 21, 1873. His wife, Mary A. 
Woodworth, was a native of Montville, Conn. 

Their son, Joshua C. Leffingwell, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native town and at a select 
school in Norwich. For a number of years be 
was engaged in the stone-quarrying business, 
but his chief occupation in life has been farm- 
ing. He owns about two hundred acres of 
land, which he cultivates to good advantage; 
and be has acquired a high reputation for the 
superior quality of his butter and other prod- 
ucts. He owns and supplies a large milk 



I'.inCK.M'IIICAI. RKVIKW 



29 



route in Norwich, which through good man- 
agement is exceedingly profitable. 

On August 19, [868, Mr. Leffingwell was 
united in marriage with Mary L. Ross, of this 
town. She is a daughter of Enos C. and 
Mary A. (Leffingwell) Ross. Her lather was 
a native "I New York State, and her mother 
was born in Bozrah. Mr. and Mrs. Leffing- 
well are the parent- ol six children, as fol- 
lows: Anna M., wife of Nathan Whiting; 
Fanny E., wife of Herbert E. Heard; Harriet 
C, wife of Robert E. Champlain; Thomas 
C. ; Frank E. ; and Minnie F. 

In politics Mr. Leffingwell is a Republican. 
He has served as Selectman, Assessor, and ,1 
member of the School Board, anil was a mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives in the 
State legislature during the session of 1 88 1 
and 1882. He is a Deacon of the First Bap- 
tist Church, is a well-known and exceedingly 
public-spirited citizen, and enjoys the confi- 
dence of the community. 



I^ORMAN SMITH, the popular mer- 
chant of 1 [.mover. Conn., was horn in 

l^ 9 V, „ this place, June 8, i.Sjii, sun of Dr. 
Vine and Lydia (Lilly) Smith. His paternal 
grandfather was Josiah Smith, who was born 
in the neighboring town of Windham, in the 
county of that name, and is buried in that 
part of the town that is now Scotland, Conn. 

Vine Smith was a genial, courteous man 
and a skilled physician in lifelong practii 
Hanover. He was born in Windham in 1800, 
and lived to be fifty-seven years oi age. His 
books showing his charges for professional 
visits are now in the possession of his son 
Norman. From them it is seen that for calls 
made in the village the lee was a few cents, 
and for calls made at a distam nr miles 

a half-dollar. The professional fees of an 



ordinary practitioner of to-day would seem to 
him enormous. He served in the State le 
lature when the only way to reach the capital 
wis by stage or by private conveyance. The 
Doctor is well remembered by many of the 
older residents of Hanover, and even some of 
the men and women of middle age can recall 
his visits to their homes during their child- 
His wife, whom he married in [824, 
survived him for twenty years, dying at the 
ity-six. They had one daughter, 
Eliza Smith, who married Jared Film 
She died in childbirth, at the age of twenty- 
two. 

Norman Smith, having obtained his educa- 
tion in the common schools and at the Nor- 
wich Town Academy, a private institution, 
taught school for a full year in Hanover, and 
as a pedagogue was an unquestioned suci 
Believing, however, that better busi 
chances for advancement were to be found in 
trade, he opened a general merchandise store 
in the fall of 1845, some time before he was 
twenty-one. He was out of mercantile pur- 
suits for eight or ten years previous to 1 
when he opened the store which he has since 
carried on. It has always been Mr. Smith's 

avor to keep only strictly fit 
goods and always to give the largest value 
possible lor the money received. He ha 
well-established trade, and during the twenty- 
eight years he has been in business at this 
stand he has made man) and 

won many friends. 

Mr. Smith was married in 18511 to Sarah 
Cutler, bom in New York, daughter of Will- 
iam ('. Cutler, who was a native of Connecti- 
cut. By this marriage there was a family of 
four children: Ella F., wife of James W. 
Bennett, of VVillimantic, and mother of two 
children: Mary E., now Mrs. F. 0. Tarbox, 
ol this place; Annie C, wife of George P, 



3° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Fenner, of New London, and mother of one 
daughter; and Ernest L., who is married and 
resides in Hanover. Mrs. Sarah Smith died: 
and her husband subsequently married her 
sister, Lucinda M. Cutler, who for the past 
twenty-eight years has officiated as Postmis- 
tress. She is the mother of tour children, 
namely: Adeline A., who is a stenographer 
and typewriter in the office of Mr. Fenner; 
Bertha B., a teacher in Portsmouth, X.H.; 
Lillie 1... the wife of Webster Standish, of 
this place, and mother of two children; and 
Vine 11. Smith, who is now a student in 
Harvard College. 

In politics Mr. Smith is a Democrat. He 
has served tin- town as Assessor, Selectman, 
ami as a member of the Board of Relief, and 
has twice been sent to the legislature. In all 
these public positions he has used for the ben- 
efit of his fellow-townsmen that sound judg- 
ment and keen insight into affairs that have 
made his personal business life a success. 
He has never been an office-seeker, and has 
accepted positions only as they were urged 
upon him. He has been satisfied with legiti- 
mate gain in his business; and, although he 
has lived quietly and in a small country town, 
he has had contentment, which is better than 
riches, and has not worn himself out with the 
stress and rush of life in a huge town. It is 
interest! te that Mr. Smith claims de- 

scent from Myles Standish, the military leader 
ot the Pilgrims. 



LJ RANCIS NELSON BRAMAN, M.D., 

r^ of New London, Conn., was born 

in Belchertown, Hampshire County, 

lay IN, 1836, being the second son of 

: iniel Park and Lucy Ann (Crocker) 

The family came originally from 

Germany; and the Hector belongs to 



the Flemish branch. The earliest direct an- 
cestor of whom he has any authentic account 
was a man of mathematical and mechanical 
genius, the inventor and manufacturer of 
mathematical instruments. One of his early 
ancestors was a Major in the English army, 
who, connected in some way with the Rye 
House Plot, was twice imprisoned in the 
Tower, and twice released. 

Dr. Braman's great-grandfather, John Bra- 
man, was a native of Washington County, 
Rhode Island. His grandfather, John Bra- 
man, Jr., was a citizen of Groton, Conn., a 
competent farmer and for a while manager of 
the Fisher's Island (N. Y.) property. He was a 
man of affairs, active in public matters in Gro- 
ton, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
army. He died in Mystic, Conn., at the age 
of seventy-five. He was twice married, and 
was the father of sixteen children, fifteen of 
whom attained maturity. His second wife, 
Dr. Braman's grandmother, was Mary Park, 
ot Mystic or Groton, daughter of Nathaniel 
Park, of Revolutionary fame. Her ancestry 
was English. She was the mother of four 
sons and four daughters. The youngest of 
the family of sixteen is the only one living 
to-day, Julia, widow of the late Abraham 
Mi Mm, of Springfield, Mass. 

Nathaniel Park Braman, who was the old- 
est child of his father's second marriage, was 
born on Fisher's Island, N.Y., in 1802. He 
was a farmer in good circumstances, and was 
active in town affairs. He died in Clinton, 
C"iin., in 1892, aged eighty-nine years and 
eleven months. He was survived by his wife, 
Lucy, to whom he was united in March, 1826. 
Ilei- parents were Ezra and Hannah (New- 
bury) Crocker, of Waterford, Conn. Her pa- 
ternal grandfather, Steadman Newbury, of 
Waterford, served throughout the Revolution- 
ary War, and was afterward pensioned by the 




FRANCIS N. BRAMAN 



BIOGR M'lIK'.M. REVIEW 



33 



ernment. He was a man of high repute, 
active in public and religious matters, and 
was a member of the old Darrow Church of 
Waterford. He livid to attain the great age 
of ninety-nine years and nine months. Mrs. 

man was born in Waterford, Conn., April 
4, [808, and, though now in her ninetieth 
in mind and body. Six chil- 
dren were born to her; and, losing one daugh- 

■ t the tender age of three years, she reared 
the following: Nathaniel Perkins, now in 
Florida; Jane I.., wife of James I.. Davis, in 
Clinton, Conn.: Francis X., the subject of 
this sketch; Alfred A. W., who died in Chi- 
in 1893, in his forty-fourth year, having 
been a skilled tool-maker, in business for a 
number of years in that city; and Ellen S., 
w of Henry Weeden, now living in New 
Haven, Conn. Nathaniel 1'. Braman, who is 
a skilled mechanic, was with the Remingtons, 
the Colts, and the Winchester Arms Com- 
pany at different times, and is now retired 
from active business. 

Francis Nelson Braman received his early 
schooling at Belchertown, Palmer, and Wilbra- 
ham, Mass. He studied medicine in Palmer 
and New London, and was two years a student 
in New York under the eminent physicians, 
Drs. Mott, Mosley, and Austin Flint, Sr. In 
April, 1 866, he opened an office in Salem, 
Conn.; and on New Year's Day, [868, he re- 
moved to New London, the fiel 1 of his labors 
ever since. Dr. Braman is a man of marked 
ability, and has long been regarded as a 
leader among his contemporaries. \l<- is a 
member of the American Medical Association, 
the county and city medical societies, and has 
served a-- president of the State Medical So- 
ciety. Dr. Braman is physician in charge of 
the Smith Memorial Home and a corporate 
member of the Board oi the New London 
Memorial Hospital, also chairman of the med- 



ical staff of the hospital. II m the re- 

paid ol the 1 1 New London, not only 

b) hi- professional work and his line social 
qualities, but also by his disinterested efforts 
as a member of the Board of Education six 
5, being chairman three years, to bring 
the schools of the city to their present high 
standard. During his term of service a new 
era in school matters was entered upon, the 
old and unsanitary school buildings were con- 
demned, a sentiment favoring school sanita- 
tion was developed, and with it a libera! finan- 
cial policy. This resulted in the construc- 
tion of two new edifices and the providii 
ways and means for a third. 

Dr. Braman has always been active in 
church and A'. M. C. A. work. At the p 
ent time he is Deacon of the Second Congre- 
mal Church of New London and its 
treasurer. In politics he is a Republican. 

Dr. Braman was married November 26, 
1868, to Miss Jennie K. I.oomis, of Salem, 
Conn., daughter of the late Hubbell and 
Sophronia (Strickland) Loomis, and has two 
promising sons — Francis Loomis and Sidney 
Royce. Mis. Jennie E. Braman died May 2, 
1895. On December 15, 1897, Dr. Braman 
formed a second matrimonial alliance with 
Miss Lulu M. Tobias, daughter of Daniel J. 
and Matilda (Gawthrop) Tobias, ,,| Chicago, 
111. 



X) 



ANIEL F. PACKER, who has won 

a world-wide reputation as a manu- 
facturer of choice soaps, is an es- 
teemed resident of Mystic, where he has a 
beautiful and attractive home. He was horn 
April 6, 1825, i 'Hiii. A son of 

Captain Charles Packer, he conies of excellent 
Massachusetts stoek. His great-grandfather, 
John Pad ne to the county from I'lym- 



34 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



outh, Mass., in the seventeenth century, and 
settled in Mystic. 

Eldredge Packer, son of John and the pater- 
nal grandfather of Daniel F., was born in 
Mystic in 1747. He was a ship-builder, and 
it Is claimed that he launched the first large 
.1 in Mystic. It is supposed that he 
owm mmanded a privateer in the Revo- 

lution. He married Sabrina Packer, who bore 
him one child, Charles. When he died he 
had attained the age of fourscore and four 
years. His widow survived him a few 
years, dying at the same age. Captain 
Charles Packer was born in Groton, near 
Mystic, in 1774. He was a mariner, engaged 
principally in coast trade during his life. 
For some years he did an extensive fishing 
business as captain of a fishing-smack. In 
the great Christmas snow-storm of many years 
ago he was among the castaways of Long 
Island Sound, when he barely escaped death, 
v successful in his ventures, through his 
industry and thrift he acquired a competency. 
He married Abigail Latham, who was born in 
Mystic on Brook Street, then called Noank 
Street. Of their eleven children, five sons 
and five daughters grew to maturity, and two 
are still living. The latter are: Hannah \Y.. 
the widow of the late S. 15. Latham, residing 
at Noank; and Daniel F. , the youngest mem- 
ber of the family. The mother died in 1829, 
at the age of forty-seven years, and the father 
died in 1834, aged threescore years. They 
and the grandparents, together with three of 
Mr. Packer's sisters and his brother Eldredge, 
were laid to rest in the Packer Burial-ground 
Mystic. 
Daniel F. Packer obtained his early educa- 
tion in the district school of P'ishtown, com- 
ing his studies at a boarding-school in 
field County, Conn., where he 
was a pupil for three years. In 1840 he went 



to New York to assist his brother Eldredge, 
who had a poultry market in that city, and in 
the following year shipped before the mast on 
the packet ship "Emerald,'* under Captain 
George Howe, a most daring and able skip- 
per. With Captain Howe, Mr. Packer made 
two trips to Havre, France, each lasting from 
thirty-four to forty-five days. He was subse- 
quently in the market business in New York 
City for four years. From there, in 1847, he 
went to Key West, Fla. , with Captain C. H. 
Mallory, and was afterward employed by Cap- 
tain Latham Brightman for a year. Six days 
before attaining his majority he bought and 
assumed the charge of the "Plume of Mys- 
tic," having for first mate Augustus Will- 
iams, of North Stonington, and for two years 
coasted along the reefs of the Tortugas and 
Florida. In 1851, 1852, and 1853 he was 
in California, mining for gold. While on the 
Pacific coast he began the manufacture of 
soap, to which he has since devoted his atten- 
tion. He is the originator of the pine tar 
soap, which is so well known all over this 
continent and Europe. He also manufactures 
other kinds, making specialties of "Packer's 
All-healing Tar Soap" and "Packer's Cuta- 
neous Charm." Beginning on a modest scale, 
he has gradually enlarged his business to its 
present large proportions. He has established 
factories in twelve States and in Canada and 
Cuba, and sold rights to Central and South 
America. His largest enterprise was in Pitts- 
burg, Pa. One plant, that in New York, 
with its entire business, he sold for ten thou- 
sand dollars to Mr. I. P. Morrison, who has 
since sold his rights to Mr. A. Constantine. 
He established his factory in Mystic some 
twenty-eight years ago, and it has since been 
one of the leading industries of the place. A 
man of rare executive ability, keen ami far- 
seeing, Mr. Packer has brought his goods 



r.KK'.K MMIICAI, REVIEW 



35 



ire the public most successfully by attrac- 
tive advertising. The firm is now known as 
The Packer Manufacturing Company of New 
York. 

Mr. Packer contracted his first marriage on 
June 7, 1849, with Margaret M., daughter of 
Captain Elisha and Margaret (Annan) Nor- 

ss, of New York City. She died in 1 S 5 5 . 

ing one child, Arline M., now the wii 

John S. Rathbone, of Mystic. His second 

marriage, on February 27, 1861, united him 

to Miss Carrie A. Randall, ol Ridgefield, 

in. The only child born of this union, S. 
Edward, died at the age of five years. Mr. 
Packer erected his present substantial and 
commodious residence in 1868. It is beauti- 
fully located on the hillside of Mystic River, 
commanding an extensive view. In this 
pleasant home Mrs. Packer, a woman of re- 
finement and culture, presides with graceful 
dignity, vying with her husband in extending 
the hospitalities of the house to their many 

its. In politics Mr. Packer is a sturdy 
Republican. He was brought up in the Bap- 
tist faith, but is now a Methodist and a trus- 
tee of the church. Mrs. Packer belongs to 
the same church. 




REDERICK FARNSWI 'Kill. om 

the prominent wealthy citizens of New 
London, Conn., was born in the neigh- 
boring city of Norwich in 1842, and is a son 
of the late Dr. Ralph and Eunice W. (Bill- 
ings) Farnsworth. 

The Farnsworth family is of English origin. 
Three persons of this name came to Ami 
in the seventeenth century, namely: Joseph, 
of I 1 r, Mass., about 1632; Thomas, 

who settled in Xew Jersey in 16815 and Mat- 
thias, whose name appears in the records of 
I. vnn, Mass., in 1657. Matthias Farnsworth, 



a sturdy yeoman, settled in Groton, Mass., 
about 1660 (see Matthias Farnsworth ami his 
Descendants in America, a monograph by 
Claudius Buchanan Farnsworth, ol Pawtucket, 
R. I., published in [891). Several sue 
ing generations of the family lived in Groton, 
including Amos, the great-grandfather of the 
subject of this biographical sketch, and Amos, 
Jr., his grandfather, the latter a well-to-do 
farmer and an active military man. He was 
one of the minute-men, ready for action when 
war was brewing between the colonies and 
the mother country, and fought in the Revo- 
lution; and after the war he retained his con- 
nection with the State militia. A- an officer 
he was first commissioned Ensign, then First 
Lieutenant of artillery. In [783, at the close 
of the Revolution, he was made Captain of 
the old Groton Artillery Company; and he 
was afterward promoted to the rank of Major 
of artillery, receiving a commission dated 
July 1, 1794, signed by Samuel .Adams as 
Governor. Major Farnsworth attained the 
great age of ninety - three years and six 
months, passing away in October, 1X47. His 
wile, who was then ninety years of age, fol- 
lowed him within two weeks. Five children 
were born to this couple — Luke, Amos, 
Ralph, Walter, and Elizabeth. The daugh- 
ter, who never married, lived nearly as long 
r father, dying in Groton in her ninety- 
second year. 

Ralph Farnsworth was born in Groton. 
Mass., September 20, 1795, and was grad- 
uated from Harvard in 1821. He subse- 
quently taught school for a while in Ports- 
mouth, N.H. For some time he studied 
medicine with Dr. Warren, "i Boston; ami, 
the honorary 1 Arts having 

been conferred on him by Dartmouth College 
in [824, he received the degree of Doctoi 
Medicine from the Harvard Medical School in 



$6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



[826. In [827 he settled in Norwich, Conn., 
where he was in active practice some forty- 
eight vears, until 1 S 7 5 . Dr. Farnsworth was 
and well proportioned, six feet in 
height, and weighing nearly two hundred 
pounds. He wis strong and active, capable 
of a wonderful am. unit of labor; and one of 
his contemporaries expressively said he was 
several men in one. lie died July 16, 1875. 
On November 25, 1828, he was married to 
Eunice W., daughter of Cocklington Billings, 
Esq., of New London. The Billings family 
has lived in this part of Connecticut for sev- 
eral generations, and accumulated property 
here. Coddington Billings, who was born in 
1770, was a prominent attorney and a bank 
president. He married a Miss Wheeler. 
Mrs. Eunice W. Billings Farnsworth was 
born in 1804, and lived to be seventy-three 

rs old, dying at her old home on Last 
Main Street, Norwich, in 1877. She was 
the mother of nine children, seven sons and 
two daughters. Only three sons attained ma- 
turity; and (me of these, Charles, met his 
death by drowning when thirty-one years of 

. in April, 1867. He left a son Charles, 
who is now in Colorado Springs, Col. The 
surviving children of Dr. Farnsworth are: 
Coddington Billings farnsworth, of Norwich, 
Conn.; and Frederick, of New London, whose 
personal history is here outlined. 

Frederick Farnsworth received a liberal 
education, graduating from the scientific de- 
partment of Yale College in 1867. During 
the year 1869 he served in the Nursery Hos- 
pital in V ■■ Vork City; and he subsequently 
went to Philadelphia, where he lived until 
In that year he removed to New Lon- 
! took up his abode in his present res- 
!S eet. This dwelling, 

which is over one hundred years old, was 
!y the mansion-house of a Mr. Led- 



yard, and for some fifty years was the resi- 
dence of William \V. Billings, Mr. Farns- 
worth's uncle. It is a fine specimen of the 
generous architecture of a century ago. 

Mr. Farnsworth was married in 1879 in 
Philadelphia to Miss Lydia Warner Sander- 
son, wdio died March 12, 1888, in the pleas- 
ant New London home. He has been a mem- 
ber of the University Club of New York City 
since 1S90, and belongs to the Thames Club 
of New London. 



tICHARD SILL 
Lyme, a retit 
_^ born in this 



LL GRISWOLD, of Old 
ired manufacturer, was 
is town, June 3, 1845. 
He is the son of Richard Sill and Frances A. 
(Mather) Griswold and a representative of 
some of the oldest and best New England 
families. His first American ancestor, Mat- 
thew Griswold, was born in England, came to 
this country in 1630, settled first at Windsor, 
Conn., and later, in 1639, at Saybrook, fixing 
his residence in that part of the colony which 
fn' 1666 was set off as the town of Lyme. 
His estate at the mouth of the "Great River" 
has since been known by the name of Black 
Hall. He married in 1639 Anna, daughter 
of the first Henry Wolcott, of Windsor, and 
had five children. He died in 1698. 

His son, Matthew Griswold, Jr., was born 
here in 1653, and died in 171 5. The Rev. 
George Griswold, son of Matthew, Jr., and 
Phebe (Hyde) Griswold, was born in 1692, 
and died in 1761. The next in this line, his 
son, George Griswold, of Giant's Neck, 
Conn., was born September 19, 1726, and 
died in 1816; and the grandfather of Richard 
S. Griswold was George Griswold, born at 
Giant's Neck in 1777, a member of the firm 
of N. L. & George Griswold, of New York 
City, china merchants, one of the leading 




RICHARD S. t.KI.sU 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



37 



importing houses of that time. I lo sua i 

in building up a large fortune, and died in 
1858. 

He was twice married. By his first wife, 
Elizabeth Woodhull, he had five children, 
three of whom grew up, and by his second 
wife, Maria M. Cummins, four children. Of 
these nine, one, John X. .\. Griswold, the 
youi born, is now living at Newport, 

R.I., at an advanced 

Richard Sill Griswold, father of the subject 
lis sketch, was born in Xew York City in 
lie was educated at Yale College, 
and after his graduation in the class of [829 
went to China as his father's agent, remain- 
ing there several years. During this time he 
taken into partnership by his father. 
, erei ted a mansion in I.' 

and made this town his residence, still con- 
tinuing his business in Xew York City, lie 
was a capable and successful business man. 
He first married Louisa < •. Mather, a descend- 
ant of the Rev. Richard Mather, of England, 
who died in Dorchester, Mass., in 1669. She 
died leaving no children; and on March 31, 
i, he married her sister, Frances A. 
Mather, daughter of James and Caroline 
["inker) Mather. Three children were born 
to them, as follows: Louisa Mather; Richard 
Sill, subject of this sketch; and Fi 
Augusta. Louisa M. Griswold is the wife of 
General Joseph G. Perkins, of Lyme; and 
Frances Augusta is the wife of Professor 
\. M. Kerry, of the Naval Academy at 
Annapolis, Md. 

Richard Sill Griswold died in [847, at the 
of thirty-eight years. His widow, Mrs. 
A. M. Griswold, lived until Decem- 
bei I-.. 1 

The present Richard Sill Griswold received 
his ei u< it ii hi in Xew I [aven and in New 
York City. After this he went to sea for his | 



health, and made many voyages across the 
Atlantic and elsewhere. He was afterward 
in the brass-manufacturing line for several 
years, being i I the firm of Brown & Brothers, 
Waterbury, Conn., for many years a lea 
house in this business. lb' lias since retired 
Iroin active mercantile life. Mr. Griswold is 
a Knight Templar and a thirty-second di 
Mason. He has served as a Representative 
tti the Slat-- legislature. 

In 1869 Mr. Griswold was married to I' 
Elizabeth Brown, daughter of Dr. fames and 
rlotte E. (Todd) Brown, of Waterbury, 
Conn. They have eight children, as follows: 
Richard Sill, Jr., a practising physician at 
Hartford, Conn., and a graduate of Belli 
Medical College, Xew York; James Brown, 
a physician in Xew London, Conn., and a 
graduate of Dartmouth College and the Col- 
li Physicians and Surgeons. New York 
City; Daniel Eddie, a lawyer in New York 
City; George, now in school and living at 
home with his parents: Harry, in Xew York 
City, studying at the Conservatory of Music; 
Rosa Elizabeth; Joseph I'.; and Woodward 
I n, a boy of twelve years. 
Six years ago Mis. Griswold established 
the Boxwood School for young ladies, in 
which some twenty pupils are being prepared 
for college Mr. Griswold has greatly en- 
1 and improved the buildings, and the 
i itsell is <i| a high grade. They re- 
moved to their present home in 1 S90. 



^ELSON A. BACON, a retired lumber 

dealer oi Old Lyme, Conn., was born 

^ K^ „ in this town. May 7, 184I, a son oJ 

Almond and Margaret S. (Clarke) Bacon. His 

grandfather, Mathew Bacon, who was born in 

Middletown, Cam., in 17*5, was a farmer 
and also proprietor of the Raton li aich 



38 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



be built about 1829, and carried on success- 
fully for a number of years. He was also a 
prominent Thompsonian doctor. He married 
Rebecca Roberts, of Middletown; and they 
had live children, four of whom grew to ma- 
turity. They were: Almond, Kbenezer, Dan- 
iel, Clara, and Lucretia. Kbenezer, who was 
financially interested in steam boating, mar- 
ried, and died at the age of thirty years. 
Daniel, after many years' service as captain 
of a steamboat, retired with a competency, 
and resided subsequently in Brooklyn, N.Y. 
He died at the age of forty-two years, leaving 
two sons: Stephen II., who is unmarried, and 
resides in Brooklyn; and Daniel, who is a 
broker in New York City, and has a family of 
two children. Clara became the wife of Eb- 
enezer I.. Roberts, an architect. 

Almond Bacon, father of the subject of this 
sketch, also became captain of a steamboat 
ami subsecpiently an agent tor a steamboat 
company. In 1 864 he started in the lumber 
business, and soon became known as one of 
the leading business men of the town. Six 
years previously he had built the house in 
which he resided the remainder of his life, 
and which is still standing. He was a 
Republican politically, and served as Town 
Treasurer for a period of sixteen years. He 
was married February 29, 1836, to Margaret 
S. Clarke, daughter of Abraham and Lura 
(Champion) Clarke, of this town. They had 
one child, Nelson A. Almond Bacon died 
in the fall of 1886, aged seventy-five years, 
and his wife in the spring of 1889, aged 
seventy-four. 

Nelson A. Bacon was educated in the 

schools of his native town, at the select 

I the Rev. Mr. Nichols, and at the 

lb- became associated with his 

in the lumber business, which they 

on until [885, when it was closed out. 



In his politics he is a Republican, but has 
never held public office. He has been a 
member of the Baptist church for the past 
thirty years, and is now one of the trustees. 
His mother was a member of the same church. 




PALMER BINDLOSS, a well-known 
and respected citizen of New London, 
Conn., who now lives retired after 
an active and honorable career of some forty- 
six years, was born December 19, 1829, in 
Kendal, Westmoreland, England, son of 
William and Margaret (Palmer) Bindloss. 

He traces his descent from Sir Christopher 
Bindloss, who was Mayor and head of the cor- 
poration of the town of Kendal in 1579-80 
under the charter of Queen Elizabeth. Sir 
Christopher, with his son Robert, established 
a regular express service between Kendal and 
London for the conveyance of their noted 
woollens. Robert was created a Baronet by 
Charles I. in 1641, and is believed to have 
been the builder of Borwick Hall, York- 
shire. Sir Robert Bindloss was member 
of Parliament for Lancaster in 1613. His 
son Francis, born 1603, married for his second 
wife Cecilia, daughter of Thomas West, Lord 
de la Ware. He also was member for Lan- 
caster. He died in the lifetime of his father, 
and was succeeded by his son Robert, the last 
male Bindloss of Borwick Hall. It is a mat- 
ter of history that King Charles II., on his 
southward march with his Scottish arm) - , 
reached Kendal on August 16, 1651, and spent 
the following night at Borwick Hall. The 
line of T. Palmer Bindloss comes from Sir 
Christopher's son Christopher, born 1570, 
continuing through his son Peter, baptized 
1607, Peter's son Robert, baptized 1630, 
Robert's son Christopher, baptized 1666, to 
Robert, son of Christopher, baptized 1696, 




i/, tAt^t^^iy iSy^cutr-dJ 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



I' 



who was a farmer and dealer in cattle in 
Rowel, Westmoreland County, and was a man 
of considerable means, the typical representa- 
tive of an English yeoman. The next ances- 
tor, Robert (third) of Greenside Milnthorpe, 
Westmoreland, the eldest son of a large fam- 
ily of children, inherited his father's fine 
.ml succeeded to the business. 1 1 is 
Philip, of Park House, Heversham, 
Westmoreland, married Jane Watson, a sistei 
oi Richard Watson, I). 1)., who was for years 
the honored Bishop of Llandaff. 

The subject of this sketch has an excellent 
portrait of Bishop Watson, a fine steel engrav- 
ing taken from a painting by George Romney, 
the celebrated historical artist and portrait 
painter; and he has also a full-length steel 
engraving of the artist. 

William, son of Philip and father of T. 
Palmer Bindloss, engaged in mercantile busi- 

1 le was a popular man and held ol 
and his brother Thompson was twice Mayor 
ol Kendal. William Bindloss came to this 
country in (848, and bought a farm just oul 
side of New London, that is now owned and 
pied by bis youngest son. His wife was 
a native of Liverpool, and it was in that 
that their marriage took place. Of 
their children, three and four daugh- 

ters are still living, all American residents, 
the youngest being now sixty-four and the 
venty lour years old. The first one 
to immigrate was Jane P. Bindloss, who 1 

in t843, and was followed a year later by 
:. Both settled in New London, their 
P. being the widow of 
nder U. Knight, and Margaret the widow 
liott. I hey e u h have children. 
The other brothers and sisters living are: 
Ellen, widow of Henry Hilli seventy- 

William, aged seventy-three; .Mary, 
widow of Joseph Scroggie, aged sixty-six; 



and Philip George, aged sixty-four. The two 

are a son who died in England, 
two years and nine months; and Esther B., 

who married Daniel Collins, and died April 
28, 1X97, aged sixty-eight. The mother, 
Alar-.net Palmer Bindloss, died in [858, at 
sixty two years of age; and the father, Will- 
iam Bindloss, died in 1864, aged sixt) eight. 
linn mortal remains rest in Cedar Grove 
Cemetery. In their native land they were 
both members of the Church of England, and 
after coming to this country both they and 
their children identified themselves with the 
Episcopal church. 

T. Palmer Bindloss received his education 
in Kendal and Liverpool. When twelve 
years old he was apprenticed to the tailor's 
trade for seven years in Liverpool, but when 
he had served five years his employer died. 
In 1 85 1, with his widowed sister Ellen and 
her two children, he came to New Lorn 
He subsequently worked eight years as a cut- 
ter in Elizabeth, X.J., and four years in New 
York City at the same occupation. Since 
then he has been a resident of New London. 
About three years ago his cousin, William 
Bindloss, Mayor of Kendal, died leaving a 
ite and a will in which there were 

. public bequests, a residue of three hun- 
dred and twenty-five thousand dollars being 
set apart for heirs in America. These heirs 

ted T. Palmer Bindloss as their attorney, 
to go to England and look after their interests, 
a task that he accomplished in a manner satis- 

iv to all. 1 I i -, stay in England exec 

nd during that time be .nailed him- 
self of the opportunity to gain informatii n 
an historical and ter rcl.it- 

the I'm irehing the rec- 

ords of many generations. He also secured 
a large number ol portraits and land-, 
views, among them being views ol I astle 



42 



niOGRAI'I I ICAL REVIEW 



Green, the residence, garden, and grounds of 
the late Mayor, who, with his noble wife, was 
much loved and esteemed by both high and 
lowly, schools having been special objects of 
their interest and recipients of their bounty, 
Mr. Bindloss has a beautiful testimonial in 
irs which was presented to them by the 
ool children in honor of their silver wed- 
ding anniversary, and another testimonial with 
their portraits, the size of a newspaper folio, 
king in the highest terms of their work. 
Mention should also be made of the views 
■ I Levi us Hall and gardens of Captain Bagot, 
which show the stone castle and gardens, now 
some eight hundred years old; also the Hind- 
room in Sizergh Castle, with the family 
coat of arms, which is a combination of those 
of the Bindloss and West families, who inter- 
married, as before noted. 

Mr. Bindloss is a Republican voter, but has 
never sought or held office. He belongs to 
the Masonic order, and is a member of Rales- 
tine Commandery of Knights Templars, in 
which he has passed the chairs. Of genial 
manners and a true gentleman in all that the 
word implies, he has many friends in New 
London and vicinity. 




RANCIS I".. MERRITT, a prosperous 

farmer of Groton, Conn., was born in 

the adjacent town of North Stonington, 

June <>, [836, son of Samuel and Sarah G. 

(Thomas) Merritt. His grandfather Merrill 

was a farmer of North Stonington, and he 

also worked at carpentering and boat-building. 

He lived to be ninety years old, and was 

twice married. By his first wife, whose 

len name was Partlow, he had six sons, 

them being Samuel, the father men- 

ibove, and three daughters. Of this 

ue daughter is still living. Grand- 



father Merritt's second wife, Nancy Brown, 
survived him. 

Samuel Merritt was born in North Stoning- 
ton in 1804. Like his father, he engaged in 
farming and ship - building. He married 
Sarah G. Thomas, who was born in Wickford, 
R. I., in 1807. They had eight children, five 
of whom are living — William H., Charles 
E., Samuel T., Francis E., and Annie E. 
William H. Merritt is in Providence, R.I. ; 
Charles E. is in Ashaway, R. I. ; Samuel T. 
is here with his brother, Francis F. ; and 
Annie is Mrs. George S. Champlain, of 
North Stonington. Another son, John Mer- 
ritt, died in early life; Albert, at the age of 
fourteen; and Mary Merritt, who was married 
at the age of eighteen, died the same year. 
The father died in 1890, at the age of eighty- 
six years. The mother still lives on the old 
farm with her daughter; and, although in her 
ninetieth year, she is bright and active, 

FVancis E. Merritt, after acquiring his 
education in the common schools and Mys- 
tic Academy, worked on his father's farm and 
in the ship-yard, also in the woods getting 
out timber, and remained at the homestead 
until i860. He now has a garden and dairy 
farm, and has driven his own milk wagon in 
Noank for twenty -eight years. In connection 
with his farming he has carried on butchering 
and marketing, and has also dealt in fertil- 
izers. The farm, including a salt marsh, 
covers more than two hundred acres. In poli- 
tics Mr. Merritt is a Republican. Officially, 
he has served as Tax Collector and on the 
School Committee, being at present a member 
of the Board of Relief. 

< Mi July 2, i860, he was united in marriage 
with Abbie E. Crouch, who was born in Led- 
yard in 1841. Her parents were David and 
Elizabeth (Whipple) Crouch. Her father, 
who was born in Ledyard, was a son of Will- 



WOCkAI'HK'AI. REVIFAV 






iam Crouch, ol Vermont. Her mother died in 
1881, at the age of sixty-throe, and her father 
in iS<jj, at the age ol eighty-seven. They 
were the parents of fourteen children; and 
they reared three sons and five daughters, all 
• ■I whom are living. Mrs. Merritt was mar- 
ried at the age of nineteen, and lias had seven 
children. The five now living are: Nettie 
A., [da C, Francis I.., Carrie B , and Lottie 
1.. Nettie A Merritt married William O. 
Bailey, and lives in Pontiac, K.I. Shi 
two children. Ida C. married Herman Wirz, 
ol Brooklyn, N. Y., and has three children. 
Francis L. is in Boston, Mass. Carrie B. is 
a teacher here, and lives at home. Lottie 
G., who is fifteen, is still in school. Alhert 
W. Merritt died at the age of eleven years 
and eight months, and Mary A. when she was 
three years old. 




jRS. MARY E. Mori; _\\, now 
=/ residing at Preston City, having 

removed hither since the death of 
her husband, the late Daniel Morgan, 
horn in North Stonington, Conn., where her 
parents, Lphraim and Eliza Prentice Hewitt, 
who were married on December 4, 1835, had 
settled on their farm. Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt 
had a family of six children, two sons and 
four daughters, of whom Mary E., now Mrs. 
Morgan, is the sole survivor. One son 
in infancy. The other son, Giles Hewitt, 
died in the prime of life, at the age of thirty- 
his wif inly child surviving him 

but a short time. The father died in 1848, at 
the age of fifty, and the mother September 
11. [862, at the sixty-four years. 

Mary E. Hewitt received a good education, 
and in her m iod taught school for some 

years. She was married to Daniel Mi 
January 1, [862, and went to live with him 



on the old Morgan farm, which was originally 
owned and occupied by his great-grandfather, . 
Samuel Morgan, whose father, John, son of 
Captain James Morgan, of New London, set- 
tled in Preston about 1692. The tract ol two 
hundred and twenty-five acres purchased by 
Samuel Morgan has since been occupied by 
three succeeding generations of M01 
namely: Daniel Morgan, first, son of Samuel; 
Daniel, second, born in 1 7NS, who died about 
[864; and his son. Mis. Mary E. Morg: 
husband, the third Daniel in direct line, who 
was born on the hom< tead, \nd died there on 
the first January, I ;e ol 

nty-two. He was the second Captain 
Daniel Morgan in the State militia. In poli- 
tics he was a Republican. Though m 
church member, Mr. Morgan regularly at- 
tended and helped to support the Congrega- 

il church, of which Mrs. Morgan is a 
member. He was a great reader and thinker, 
and was well informed on all topics of public 
importance or interest. 

Mrs. Morgan has leased the farm upon 
which her married life was spent, and with 
her daughter, Carrie Prentice Morgan, is 1 iv- 
as above mentioned, at Preston City. 
She chose this place as being not far from her 
old home and near the last resting-place of 
her husband, whose grave is in the Preston 
City cemetery. 




• 



AMAIN ROBERT PALMER WIL 
BUR, ot Myst ic, < !onn. , now 
in ship-building at Noank, Ids na- 
tive place, was born on October 28, 1 
being the third ■> of William Allen and 
Lucy (Palmer) Wilbur. His remote paternal 
am estors were Engl ish. 

His great-grandfather Wilbur's name was 
William. His grandfather, John Wil 



M 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



who was master of a fishing-smack, died in 
Norfolk, \'a. , in 1836. He was survived 
some time by his second wife, Betsy Burrows. 
A daughter born of their union, Mrs. Lucretia 

Brown, is still living, now a widow. Her 
husband, who was a mariner, died in 1836. 
ndfather Wilbur's first wife, whose maiden 
name was Eleanor Ashby, was the mother of 
nine children, seven sons and two daughters : 
Janus ; Nathaniel; William Allen: Ray S. : 
Allen, who was lost at sea; John: and Whit- 
man. The last named was accidentally shot 
in California. Mary Ellen and another 
daughter died in childhood. Kay S. died in 
. ^t the age of eighty-seven. 

William Allen Wilbur, the third son as 
here recorded, was a mariner and also a mer- 
chant in Noank. He married Lucy Palmer, of 
that village. They had six children — Lucy 
Ellen, Abby, William Allen, John Palmer, 
Robert Palmer, and Charles. Lucy Ellen 
died at the age of four; Abby lived to be 
nineteen; William Allen, second, a ship- 
master, died in Cuba at the age of twenty-five, 
«.! yellow fever; John Palmer, a sea captain, 
died in Calcutta of cholera: Robert P., the 
subject of this biography, is the only sur- 
vivor; Charles Wilbur died at the age of six 
rs. The father, who was bom in Noank 
in 1802, died December 1, [846. The 
mother is still living. Her parents were 
Deacon John and Abby (Fish) Palmer. Dea- 
con Palmer was a ship-carpenter. He out- 
lived his wife, wdio died leaving seven of her 
twelve children. Put two of the family are 
now living: Mrs. Wilbur and her brother, 
Robert Palmer, who is at the head of the 
ship-building interest in Noank. 

Robert Palmer Wilbur had limited educa- 
tional advantages in his boyhood and youth, 
school only winters after he was ten 
. when he began to engage in fish- 



ing. From the age of sixteen to twenty he 
attended school at Winsted and Mystic, Conn. 
During the Civil War he was a three months 
volunteer in Company A, Second Connecticut 
Regiment, of New London, going as private. 
At the age of twenty-five he commanded the 
steamer "Ulysses." The other vessels in 
which he sailed as captain were: the bark 
"Caleb Haley," which was lost on the coast 
of Mexico in August, 1866; the schooner 
"Robert Palmer"; the "A. E. Campbell"; 
the ship "Dauntless"; the "M. P. Grace"; 
and the "St. PYances," in which he made his 
last voyage, quitting the merchant marine 
service in April, 1S94. Since that time he 
has been interested in ship-building, being 
vice-president of a company in Noank. In 
politics Captain Wilbur affiliates with the 
Republican party; and he is fraternally con- 
nected with Williams Post, No. 55, G. A. R., 
as Commander. 

On May 10, 1864, he was united in mar- 
riage with Phoebe Miner Fish, daughter of 
Nathan G. and Emeline (Miner) Fish, her 
maternal grandfather being John O. Miner. 
Her father is now dead. Captain and Mrs. 
Wilbur have had six children. They lost an 
infant son, Albert, and a little daughter 
named Gertrude, who passed away at the age 
of seven years. The four now living are: 
Helen F., Emeline Miner, Roberta P., and 
John P. Helen F., a young lady at home, 
was graduated at the Mystic Valley Institute. 
Emeline Miner, who is also at home, was 
graduated at the Williams Memorial High 
School in New London in 1895. Roberta is 
a maiden of ten years, and John Palmer, a 
boy of seven. 

Mrs. Wilbur accompanied her husband on 

d Ion- voyages, going round Cape Horn 

anil to various foreign ports. They reside on 

the homestead formerly belonging to Mrs. 




CHARLES MAINE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



47 



Wilbur's father, which has been owned by 
Captain Wilbur for many years. Personally, 
he is a man of refinement, one who lias a 
:i love for home and its higher associa- 
tions. Mrs. Wilbur is a true wife and 
mother. The family circle is still blessed by 
grandmother's presence. Socially, the Wil- 
burs stand among the highest and most 
esteemed citizens. Captain Wilbur is a Dea- 
con of the Union Baptist Church. 




jHARLES O. MAINE, Ml)., an ac- 
tive and successful physician of Ston- 
ington, Conn., was born April io, 
[843, in New Hartford, this State. He is 
the eldest son of the late Sidney < >. Maine, 
and is descended from one of the best known 
families of Xew London County, many of his 
ancestors having been prominent in industrial 
and professional circles. His paternal grand- 
father, Jabez Breed Maine, was born in North 
Stonington in 1772. and died there in 1 
lie v ne mason by trade, and an expert 

in making the broad, old-fashioned fireplaces 
with good draft that were always found in the 
Colonial mansions; and as a government em- 
ployee he did the masonry on the Stonington 
Light-house. On March 15, 1798, he married 

love Edwards, a direct descendant of Jon- 
athan Edwards, the celebrated theologian ; and 
of the thirteen children burn of this union six 

and live daughters grew to mature \ 
married, and reared families. One son, 

1 M line, was for many years a n 
counsellor and judge in Boston; another son, 
Jonas C, was a well-known physician oi Con 
necticut; and a third son, Christopher Ira, 
was a skilful surg physician ol Central 

Xew York, acquiring eminence in his profes 
sion throughout the counties of Tioga, Tomp- 
kins, and Chemung, and at his death leavii 



handsome property to be divided among his 
large number of children. The grandmother 
died in 1S56, a few months before her hus- 
band. 

Sidney O. Maine was a farmer by occupa- 
tion, and a man of literary tastes and attain- 
ments. He taught school man} terms; and he 
wis a writer ol some note, many oi his articles 
on scientific subjects appearing in the public 
1'iess. He was broad-minded and liberal- 
hearted, spending his money as he made it, 
being unselfish and generous almost to a fault. 
Fraternally, he was a Master Mason. lie was 
a lifelong resident ol North Stonington, where 
he was born May 6, 1818, and died August 
20, IS.).). Mis wile, whose maiden name was 
Eliza I.. Wentworth, was horn April 12, 
[818, in Barkhamsted, Conn., and is now liv- 
ing in Ninth Stonington, being a bright and 
active woman of nearly fourscore years. She 
is the mother of five children, namely: Dr. 

Ies t). , of Stonington; Milo M., a stone- 
mason, living in North Stonington; Albert 
S. , a farmer in Hampton, Conn.; Myron M., 
1). U.S., who was graduated Mom the Haiti- 
more Dental College, where he took the 
prize foi excellence of workmanship, and now 
has a fine dental practice in South Manches- 
ter, Conn. ; and Annie M., wife ol Henry M. 
Newton, a farmer living in North Stonington. 
Charles < >. Maine was reared on the home 
farm, obtaining his early education in the dis- 
trict school, and at the a venteen be- 
ginning life on his own account as a teacher in 
the public scl Is. II" taught several terms 

untiv anil village, in the meantime con- 
tinuing his studies; and he subsequently en- 
tered the medical department of Dartmouth 
College, from which he wis graduated with the 
class of [870. He settled fust in Voluntown, 
Conn., where he remained eleven years, He- 
sides attending to an extensive practice, he 



48 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



held town offices, and was School Visitor for 
many years. Dr. Maine removed to Stoning- 
ton on April [8, 1881, and has here built up 

[tensive and lucrative practice, his profes- 
sional skill being recognized throughout this 

ion of tlio count}-. In [894 he built his 
present commodious residence on Water 
Street, at the comer of Harmony, on which 
his handsome and well-arranged ham is situ- 
ated. The house is furnished and equipped 
with all modem conveniences, with a suite of 

es both for himself and for his son, who 
is a popular young dentist. The Doctor is a 
Master Mason and quite active in the order. 
Mr is a Republican in his political affiliations, 
has been elected a Justice of the Peace many 
terms, and is a Burgess. Me has stock in the 
velvet-mill, hut pays no especial attention to 
its management, his professional labors de- 
manding his entire time and energies. He 
and his wife are valued members of the Baptist 
church. 

Dr. Maine was married December iS, 1866, 
to Sarah Phehe Main, who, though bearing the 
same name with a slight different e in spelling, 
i- not akin to him, unless it he possibly on the 
maternal side, her parents being Robert P. 
and Phebe (Edwards) Main, oi Voluntown, 
Conn. Her father was in early years a stone- 
mason and a farmer, hut is now living retired, 
both he and his wife being quite advanced in 
I hey had hut one child besides Mis. 
Maine, a son, Crawford R, , who died in West- 
erly, R.I., in 1.X76, leaving a widow and one 
daughter, Gertie I.. The latter was left an 
orphan when three _\ ears old, and was brought 
up by her grandparents until about live years 
Alien -he became an inmate oi the 1 )oc- 
household. Mr and Mrs. Maine have 
but one child, a son named Charles Everett, 
'dilated from the New York Mental 
March 10, 1 888, and has since had 



his home and dental rooms in his father's 
house. He was married June 5, 1889, to 
Miss Susie Miller, of Stonington, Conn. 



TmMWARD N. CROCKI^R, of New Lon- 
QJ don, a wholesale dealer in cold stor- 
age meats, was born here, July 26, 
1N41, son of John and Nancy (Thompson) 
Crocker. The grandfather, Nehemiah Crocker, 
who was a farmer, had four sons and four 
daughters, none of whom are living, and was 
over ninety years old when he died in 1849. 
John Crocker, who was born in Waterford, 
this county, in 1793, served in the War of 
1812, married Nancy Thompson about the 
year 1838, and died in 1866. He had previ- 
ously married Clarissa Brown, who died leav- 
ing three sons and a daughter. Of these the 
only survivor is Benjamin A. Crocker, residing 
in Waterford, who was the captain of a yacht, 
and has tried a number of cases in the capacity 
of Justice of the Peace. 

Edward N. Crocker lived on a farm during 
his early years. When the Rebellion broke 
out, he was attending the district school. In 
August, 1862, he enlisted for the defence of 
the Union in Company F of the Twenty-first 
Connecticut Infantry. Before leaving the 
State he was detailed from the ranks as a 
Quartermaster's clerk, in which capacity he 
served eighteen months. Then he was de- 
tailed as clerk under Major J. M. Lucas, Port 
Commissary at Portsmouth, Va., with whom 
he remained sixteen months. He served con- 
tinuously until June, 1865, when he was hon- 
orably discharged. Afterward for a few 
months he was engaged in a manufacturing 
business at Meriden, Conn. Since that time 
he has been in the meat business, beginning 
as an employee of Henry Hobron. In [ 88 1 
he purchased the market in which he was 




CHARLES E. BRAYTON. 



HIOGRAI'IIIC \I. RKVIEW 



loyed from Clark Steward, and has since 
carried on a wholesale business. lie first 
sold Nelson Morris & Co.'s meat; hut since 
1886 he has been interested in the Swift busi- 
. being an equal partner with G. F. and 
E. C. Swift, each owning a third. They 
built their finely equipped establishment in 
Their business now amounts to about 
two hundred thousand dollars yearly. 

In June. [867, Mr. Crocker and Janette H. 
Tiffany were united in marriage. She was 

in East Haddam, Conn., daughtei 
John Tiffany. They have two children: 
hen M.. a graduate of Brown's Business 
in Brooklyn; and Leonard G., a clerk 
in the railroad freight office. Both are living 
ime. Mr. Crocker is a stanch Republi- 
can, ami has been chairman of the Republican 
fown Committee for the past five years. 
During the past six years he has served as 
a member of the Common Council of this 
city. He is a Master Mason, a member <>f 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the 
Commander of the W. \V. Perkins Postj No. 
< A. R. ; and a communicant of the First 
11I I iiiirch. Tin- family reside 
1:1 Avenue, in the house built by 
Mr. ('mcker's father forty y< 




(HARLES ERSKINE BRAYTON, 
M.D., "! Stonington, son of .\> 
\k - Randall and Sally M. (Davis) Bray- 
ton, was born in this town, February 11, 1851. 
lie represents the eighth generation of his 
family in this country, being a lineal descend- 
ant of Francis Brayton, born in England in 
i"ii or [612, who in 1^43 became an inhabi- 
tant of Portsmouth, R. I. Succeeding Fran- 
cis in this line were: Francis 1 ; Thomas, 3 
born [681; Francis, 4 horn 1721; Benjamin, 5 
ol Fall River, born 1746; George," born 17 



Atwood » Randall Brayton, born December 2, 

' 
George Brayton, the Doctor's grandfather, 
died of pneumonia at his home in John 
now a part of Providence, R.I., when but 
thirt) five years of age. lie was survived by 
his wife, formerly Nancy Randall, and five 
children, three suns and two daughters. After 
her husband's death Mrs. Nancy R. Brayton 
married a Mr. Carey, a widower with twelve 
children, and, outliving him also, died a widow 
at the age of sixty-seven. She was a des< 
ant of Roger Williams, three of whose great- 
ers Mercy, Lydia, and Martha 
Williams married respectively William, 
h, and John Randall. Atwood Randall, 
eldest son oi George and Nancy R. Brayton, 
was horn in Providence, December 2, 1806. 
By trade a mason, he was also a contractor and 
builder. He built the stone work of the 
old Baptist, I ongregational, and Episcopal 
churches, and most of the other stone build- 
ings of that time. He built his own dwell- 
ing-house in 1840. Although he began life 
a poor boy, his unremitting industry enabled 
him to retire from business at the age < i 
1, a well-to-do man. He died 
at the age of eighty-four and a half, having 
survived all of his brothers and sisters. His 
wife, Sally Maria, was horn in what is now 
North Stonington, January 25, 1811, being 
the youngest of thirteen children of Samuel 
and Lucy (Dewey) Davis. She is the only 
one of the family now living. Her father was 
a soldier of the Revolution. He enlisted at 
the age of seventeen, was in the battles 
Princeton and Trenton, and was at Groton, his 
three brothers also being in the army. Their 
father, John Davis, who married Patience 
Palmer, was a -on of Peter Davis, Sr., ol 
Westerly, R.I., a noted preacher of the Soci- 
ety ol Friends, who went on a mission to Eng- 



5 2 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



land. Samuel Davis died at the age of sixty- 
eight; and his widow died in 1857, ninety-four 

rs old. Their daughter married Atwood 
Randall Brayton, 2, [831. 

Mr. and Mrs. Atwood R. Brayton had 
eleven children, four of whom died in infancy 
or childhood; and one, the eldest-horn, a 
daughter Sarah, dud in [895, a maiden lady 
ixty-two years. The survivors are: At- 
wood W., the eldest son, and his father's suc- 

>or in business, unmarried and living at 
the old home; Frances Almira and the young- 
est sister Adelaide, also living at home; 
George, a house painter and decorator, who is 
married and has two children; and Charles 
Erskine, the subject of this sketch. The 
three sisters were successful teachers for many 

rs. 
Charles Erskine, the tenth child and the 
third Charles, was sent to private and public 
schools until he reached the age of twelve, 
when he was placed under the instruction of a 
private tutor, Dr. Hart, of Stonington, for five 
years. lie worked at his lather's trade four 
summers, and when he was eighteen years 
old he taught school one term before he began 
the study of medicine with Dr. William Hyde. 
He was graduated from the medical depart- 
ment of Columbia College in 1873, having 
been a private pupil ol Professor William 
Parker. He began practising in Stonington 
the same yeai as assistant to Dr. William 
Hyde, who died in a few months. He then 
succeeded to his practice, and remained in his 
ven years. In 1880 Dr. Brayton 
erected a large and handsome building, where 
he has some tine offices and sleeping apart- 
ments. On the first floor of this building 
there is a drug store, on the second dental 
and a great hall, where the (I. A. R. 
and other societies hold their meetings, 
The Doctor lives in this building, but takes 



his meals at the family home, in the house 
built by his father, which he has remodelled 
and modernized, and where his mother is still 
living. He owns a number of tenements and 
several vacant lots. 

Dr. Brayton is a busy man; and he has held 
many positions, both in public life and within 
the scope of his profession. He has been 
president of the New London County Medical 
Society, is a member of the State Medical 
Society, of the American Medical Association, 
and of the National Association of Railway 
Surgeons, and has been Health Officer for six 
years. He was chief of the railroad surgeons 
of the New York, Providence & Boston Rail- 
way until that was merged into the N. Y. , 
N. H. & H. R.R., and examiner for several 
life insurance companies. In politics he is a 
Democrat, and he has been a Burgess of the 
borough six years. He is a member of the 
Royal Arcanum, and is Past Regent and life 
member of the Grand Council of Connecticut. 
He is also connected with the Sons of the 
Revolution. Dr. Brayton is an active member 
of the Second Congregational Church, is treas- 
urer of the society, and a member of the soci- 
ety committee. 



ABEZ B. HOUGH, the well-known and 

popular merchant of East Lyme, was 
born in Bozrah, an inland town in this 
county, on April 19, 1855, son of Jedediah 
Stark and Lydia Amelia (Fowler) Hough. 
Representatives of the Hough family have 
lived in the same house in Bozrah for a hun- 
dred years, and have been among the most 
highly respected and influential citizens of 
the town. 

Guy Hough, father of Jedediah, was a 
farmer. He married Hannah Bailey, of 
Groton, a relation of the renowned "Mother 



I'.loCk.M'llie \l, REVIEW 



53 



Bailey," whose name is a synonym lor warm- 
hearted patriotism. By this union there were 
nine children, all of whom are now dead. 

idmother Hough died in 1875, aged about 
rs; .ui<\ her husband, who out- 
lived her, died in his ninety-ninth year. 

Jedediah Hough, father of the subject of 
this sketch, was a prosperous farmer, accumu- 
lating a property of some thirty-live thousand 

us. He was a Republican, and was 

active in local politics. He was Selectman 

-nne fifteen years consecutively and Town 

iurer fur a number of years. In 1 S 5 5 , 
at the time when his son Jabez was born, he 
represented the town in the legislature. His 
wife, Amelia, was born in iSjj in Lebanon, 

. were married in 1854, and had seven 
children. A son, Charles, died in early child- 
The six living are as in] lows: Mary, 
wife of John J. Gager in Bozrah; Lucn 
wife of J. Milton Newton; Lathrop Alanson, 
a farmer, unmarried; Jabez B. ; I.ydia, wife 
' ». Stead, of Norwich, a retired 
merchant; and Katie, wife of Warren S. 

, .111 assistant superintendent in the Vale 

. Works, living at Stamford, Conn. The 

• died in 1 861 1, Hi'! tin- mothei in [81 1 ;. 

I'.. I lough lived cm the old bom. 

until fifteen years of age, attending the dis- 
trict school. He then left home and became 

irk in Fitchville, where he remain* 
'. rs. In the spring of [880 he 1 

1st Lyme as salesman and agent in charge 
of the factory store. He was in this position, 
working on salary and helping with the 
bonks, never losing a day's pay, until the 
business was closed. In 1894, when the 
Niantic Manufacturing Company was started 
rs. Park Brothers and 1). R. Camp- 
bell, Mr. Hough opened the store in company 
with Luther C. Eaton, the firm name being 
Hough & Eaton. In March, 1895, Mr. Eaton 



died: and in the following May Mr. Hough 
ime the sole proprietor of the business. 
He began with limited capital, but with a 
good stock of energy and capability, with 
well-formed habits of industry, and lias been 
successful in business. At present he employs 
two clerks and keeps time horses, but !• 
alter the book-keeping himself, and is a very 
busy man. Genial and ao 'ting, he 

is always ready to do anything in his power 
to oblige a customer or acquaintance. 

On March 17, 1879, Mr. Hough married 
Ida J. Grover, daughter of the late William 
Grover, who was a travelling and local sales- 
man. Mr. and Mrs. Hough reside at their 
delightful home on Flanders Street, in the 
house which was built in 1895 and 1896. In 
politics Mr. Hough is a Republican ; but. al- 
though deeply interested in the welfare of the 
town and in all its public affairs, he has 
stoutly refused to hold office. Fraternally, 
he is a Master Mason. 




SA R. BIGELI IW, farmer, residing in 
was born in this town, 
January 17, 1830, son of Guy Bi 
low and his wife, Sarah Ann Waite Bigelow. 
He is of old and substantial Colonial stock, 
being a direct descendant in the male line of 
John Bigelow, who came to New England — 
some have thought from Wales and settled 
at Watertown, Mass., where his marriage took 
place in 1642, and was the first one recorded 
in the town. His wile wis Mary Warren. 

Lieutenant John Bigelow, grandson of John 
of Watertown, came to Colchester from Hart- 
ford, Conn., between 1 706 and 1710. He 
was lour times married, and had two children 
by his first wife and five by his second wife, 
Sarah Bigelow. a cousin. He died March 8, 
1770. Asa Bigelow, first, born in Colchester 



54 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



in [720, one of the second group, married 
early in life, and died in 1754, leaving a 
large family. His posthumous son and name- 
. Asa, grandfather of Asa R. Bigelow* 
married February 5. [783, Lydia Newton, of 
hester, a daughter of ! inn Newton. 
During the Revolution Asa Bigelow, second, 
was Assistanl Commissary to Commissary- 
general Champion, and took a drove of cattle 
to Valley Forge. He was a carpenter by 
trade, and used the first cut nails seen in the 
town in shingling his own barn in 1794, the 
nails being brought by his son Guy on horse- 
back from Windham, Conn. The old build- 
ings are still standing. Grandfather Bigelow 
was a large landed proprietor, owning seven 
hundred acres of land, which was divided into 
three farms, lie was one of the first trustees 
i:i Bacon Academy. Of the eleven children 
born to him and his wife, ten, three sons and 
seven daughters, reached maturity, and nine 
were married. Three of the daughters mar- 
ried clergymen ; one became the wife of Dan- 
iel SafFord, an iron merchant of Boston, who 
the promoters of the school at 
South Hadley, now Mount Holyoke College: 
and the son Asa, third, became a prominent 
New York merchant. Grandfather Bigelow 
died July 28, 1830, at the age of seventy-five. 
His willow survived him fourteen years, dying 
in 1844. 

Guy Bigelow was educated in the common 
schools of Colchester and at Bacon Academy. 
He was a prominent and influential citizen, 
active in town affairs; and he served one year 
Representative in the legislature. He 
settled on his farm of two hundred acres in 
1X51. He married March 8, 1827, Sarah 
Ann Waite, a daughter of Remick and Susan- 
nah (Matson) Waite. Of the seven children 
born of this union four died young; and three 
-1 R., Jonathan E., and Henry \V. — 



survived their parents. The father died in 
1S6S, in the eighty-third year of his age; 
and the mother died in 1891, at the age of 
ninety-five. They were active members of 
the Congregational church. Jonathan E. 
Bigelow, who is unmarried, lives with his 
brother Asa on the home farm. Henry Waite 
Bigelow, the other brother, was a volunteer 
in 1 86 1 in the Fourteenth Ohio, going as 
private from Toledo, and becoming the Cap- 
tain of Company H. He was twice wounded 
at Chickamauga, first from a ball passing 
through his thigh and afterward in the arm. 
For these injuries he received a pension from 
the government. He was a merchant and 
manufacturer in Toledo, Ohio, and was a 
thirty-third degree Mason. He died unmar- 
ried, March 12, 1895. 

Mr. Asa R. Bigelow, following his father's 
footsteps, attended the Bacon Academy in his 
youth; and, beginning at the age of seven- 
teen, he taught school for ten seasons. On 
September 13, 1855, he was united in mar- 
riage with Anne Putnam Brown, of Brooklyn, 
Conn. Mrs. Bigelow was a great-grand- 
daughter of General Israel Putnam, and was 
also descended from the Brinleys, of Boston, 
who were among the founders of King's 
Chapel, and from the Hutchinsons. She was 
one of thirteen children born to her parents, 
James and Emily (Putnam) Brown, of whose 
family four daughters and five sons lived to 
maturity, and four of the sons married. To 
take the places of the four sons who died in 
childhood, four nephews of Mr. Brown were 
adopted. The two children now living are: 
the Rev. Edward Brown, Episcopal rector at 
Stafford Springs, Conn.; and his sister, Jane 
('. Brown, at the old home in Brooklyn. The 
mother died in 1S73, at the age of seventy- 
three; and the father five years later, at 
eighty -two years of age. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



55 



Mrs. Bigelow died April 27, 1897, aged 
sixty-seven, leaving four children; namely, 
James Dixon, Elizabeth Brinley, Sarah Waite, 
and Henry Waite. James Dixon Bigelow is 
an attorney-at-law and real estate broker in 
rerre Haute, Ind. He has a wife and two 

Jiters. Elizabeth Brinley Bigelow, a 
young artist, was educated at Carl Decker's 
school, and now has a class in the village. 
Several years of her life have been spent in 
the West, in Indiana and in Illinois; hut 
both she and her sister Sarah are now living 
at home. Henry Waite is a graduate of the 
Polytechnic Institute of Terre Haute, Ind. 
He is a fine mechanic and chemist, and is now 
in the department of tests for the Pope Manu- 
ring Company of Hartford. The family 
all Episcopalians. .Mr. Bigelow is a 
Master Mason. He is a Republican, and 
•d his town as Assessor for many years. 
He was Representative in 1873, and has been 

efeated candidate many other years, the 
town being strongly Democratic. To the old 
farm of two hundred acres he has added thirty 
acres. It is in a most delightful location, 
reached by a walk or drive through the shaded 
and picturesque wood road past the old mill, 
now silent, and the babbling trout In 
which is the outlet of a fine large mill-pond; 
and the secluded homestead, so neatly kept and 
so plainly th ol taste and culture, is 

of the most attractive in this fine agri- 
cultural town. 




BEL I'. TANNER, an attorney-at-law 

doing a successful business in New 
London, was born across the river 
in Grotnn, July 7, 1850, a son of Abel and 
Clarissa (Watrous) Tanner. His paternal 
grandparents, Palmer and Mary N. (( 
Tanner, were residents of Rhode Island. 



They had four sons and a daughter, of whom 
two sons — Abel and Jeremiah — are now liv- 
ing. Palmer Tanner died in Centreville, 
R.I., at about seventy years of age. His 
father, Palmer Tanner, Sr., was a soldier in 
the Revolutionary War, being a member of 
General Spencer's division. 

Abel Tanner was born on Prudence Island, 
R.I., in .August, [805, an< ' now resides at 
Mystic, this town. Though he is now ninety- 
two years of age, he is still well preserved in 
mind and body. He married Clarissa Wat- 
rous about 1848. She was a descendant of 
James Rogers, a noted Quaker, whom tradi- 
tion claims to have been a descendant of John 
Rogers, the martyr. Mrs. Tanner died Au- 
gust 15, 1850, leaving her only child, Abel 
P. Tanner, a babe of five weeks. The father 
afterward married Cordelia Heath, by whom he 
had a son, Wendell Phillips Tanner, who died 
when in his twenty-first year. The father was 
associated as a lecturer with Wendell Phillips 
in the early days of the abolition movement, 
and named his boy for the great or, 

Abel P. Tanner received a good education, 
supplementing his elementary schooling by 
a course at Brown University, at which he 
graduated in the class of 1S74 with the 
degree oi Bachelor of Arts. lie studied law 
at Mystic with Colonel Hiram Appelman, and 
on February 23, 1875, was admitted to the 
bar. He practised for several years in Mys- 
tic, then in 1882 came to New London, where 
he has a large clientage. He is very promi- 
nent in political affairs, and in 1872 was 
elected on the Republican ticket to the 
State Senate, but owing to an irregularity in 
the court, it is claimed, never took his seat. 
Following the example of his father, he has 
done effective work as a campaign speaker. 
In 1896 he was the Democratic candidate for 
Presidential elector. 



56 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



In June iS, [874, Mr. Tanner was united 
in marriage to Miss Emma B. Whitford, a 

daughter of Clark X. Whitford, of Stoning- 
ton. Mr. ami Mrs. Tanner have no children 
living, having hist their only daughter in in- 
fancy. Their home is at 5 Hempstead Street, 
where Mr. Tanner built a pleasant residence 
in the summer of 1891. 



"J^VTNORRIS W. BACON, of New Lott- 
ie |f=Y don, now retired from business, 
J ' I ' \^ has engaged in many enterprises 

which have left lasting monuments along the 
road of progress in this city, and has won re- 
nown in the sporting world, both through his 
horses and his tine yachts, one of his boats a 
few years since taking the cup at New York 
City. He was born in Middlefield, Middle- 
sex County, Conn., October 11, 1830, a son 
nl William and Elmina (Johnson) Bacon, both 
of Middlefield. 

His grandfather, John Bacon, who was the 
fourth John in succession (see Bacon Gene- 
: by Arthur W. Bacon, of Middle- 
town, Conn.), was born in Middlefield in 
1779. IK- managed a farm and kept a hotel 
in Middlefield, and at one period was con- 
sidered wealthy; but he lost some fifteen 
thousand dollars by indorsing notes for 
friends, and had little to devise at the time of 
his death. His homestead, however, is still in 
the family, owned by a female cousin of 
Morris W. Bacon. John Bacon died in Mid- 
dlefield, December 6, 1X50; and his wife, 
Amy Cor, ol Middlefield, a noble woman, 
strong in the Methodist faith, died October 
30, 1 N 6 5 , over fourscore years of age. They 
were the parents of the following children: 
Curtis, United States Marshal in Middle- 
town: William, father of Morris W. ; John 
1 i 1 Lucy, twins; and George W. 



William Bacon, second son of John, was 
born in Middlefield, near his son's birthplace, 
July 20, 1805. He began life "even with the 
world," so to speak, he and his brother Curtis 
purchasing a farm of one hundred acres for 
twelve hundred dollars, giving a mortgage 
note for the purchase price. Energetic and 
capable, this farm they paid for in a short 
time. On April 18, 1839, Mr. William 
Bacon took charge of the Bacon Hotel in New 
London, which was owned by his uncle 
Matthew; and in this sphere of action he was 
successful and very popular. Large-hearted 
and whole-souled, he never turned a man away 
hungry because he had no money; and he asked 
no favors himself, always paying one hundred 
cents on the dollar. He died in Lyme, 
Conn., May 28, 1882, aged seventy-seven, and 
is survived by his second wife, formerly Miss 
Anna M. Lay, of Lyme, and now living in 
that town. Morris W. Bacon's mother, 
whose maiden name was Elmina Johnson, was 
William Bacon's first wife, whom he married 
April 21, 1828. Her parents were residents 
of Middlefield. Her father died in early 
manhood; and her mother lived to be seventy, 
passing away in 1846. Mrs. Elmina J. 
Bacon was one of six children, two sons and 
four (.laughters, all of whom married and had 
families. She died July 22, 1866, aged fifty- 
nine, the youngest of her family to pass away. 
She had but two children: Morris W., of 
New London; and Watson Coe Bacon, who 
died the day he was nine months old. 

Morris W. Bacon was born on the hundred- 
acre farm purchased by his father and his 
uncle Curtis in Middlefield, and in a district 
school in that town he acquired his primary 
education. He completed his studies in the 
public schools of New London, and at the age 
of fifteen went to work, engaging as clerk for 
Cady & Newcomb. With this firm he re- 




MoKKIs W. BACON, 



BIOGR M'llie.M. UK\ II \\ 






mained three years, his salary being raised as 
his services became valuable; and on Novem- 
ber 22, [849, he assumed the duties of passen- 
ger clerk on the steamer "Connecticut." He 
1 in the employ of the steamboat com- 
pany until 1874: between 1S55 and 1872 he 
was also a membei ol the jewelry firm of Gor- 
don & Bacon, whose place of business was at 
the corner of Main and State Streets, New 
London. 

He has engaged in some important transac- 
is in real estate that have caused a marked 
improvement in property in New London, 
lie erected a handsome marble block on State 
Street, containing spacious stores and a hall ; 
ami for ten years prior to 1890 he managed a 
billiard room in this block, which was one of 
the finest in this part of the country. The 
room was eighteen feet in height and sixty-two 
by forty-one feet in dimension, and not a post 
broke the harmony of the space. It was 
fitted with seven billiard tables. 

Mr. Bacon purchased a handsome residi 
property on State Street in iS~C<, and, build- 
1 fine barn, bought a number of thorough- 
I horses. Some noted animals were bred 
his place, and at one time he was the 
er of twenty-one. lie brought out "Will- 
iam II. Allen" and "Mary A. Whitney," ami 
others known to the racing world. This 
State Street property he sold in December, 
1895, disposing of his horses at the same 
time. Mr. Munsey, who was induced by Mr. 
Ba< on to come to New London, purchased the 
te for thirty thousand dollars, and has 
erected a magnificent brick block, costing 
four hundred thousand dollars, eight stories 
in height, and one hundred ami twelve by 
ninety feet in dimension, and strictly fire 
proof. 

Trior to 1N77 Mr. Bacon was actively inter- 
ested in yachting: and he has owned a number 



of yachts of which he had built. lb- 

was licensed as a captain while he was in the 
employ ol the Steamboat company: and he 
always sailed his own boats, being his 
own pilot. In 1859, w ' tn tnc sloop yacht 
"Rowena," he won the cup in the New York 
Yacht Club regatta. 

Mr. Bacon was married October 11, I X 5 3 , to 
Jane L. Gordon, who died July 19, 1891, leav- 
ing two children — Charles G. and Lizzie J. 
Charles G. Bacon was educated at Exeter, 
X 11., and is now in business in this city. 
Lizzie J. Bacon, who is also in New London, 
was educated at Auburndale, Mass., and is an 
accomplished artist. Mr. Bacon contracted a 
second marriage, October 3, 1892, with Jane 
D., daughter of the late William Carroll, of 
this city. Mr. Carroll, who was extensively 
engaged in teaming, died in 1882. He left a 
widow, Mrs. Ellen Carroll, and two children 
— Martha and Jane — all residents of New 
London. In politics Mr. Bacon is nominally 
a Democrat, but he reserves the privilege of 
voting for the candidate best fitted for the 
office. He has refused all offers of public 
preferment. 



i • 




1LI.IAM DIXON McSS. a retired 



merchant and manufacturer of Po- 
quetuck, was born in Westerly, 
R.I., August 25, 1830. His grandfather, the 
Rev. Reuben Moss, of Connecticut, a Con- 
ttional minister, who was educated at 
Yale, married Hedassah Chesebro, and be- 
came the father of a huge family of children. 
These included: 1. Washington, born in 

1800: William ('. : Reuben: Lphraim: Jesse 
L. : and two daughters. Reuben married in 
1794, and died in [812. His widow married 
a Mr. Tyler, in Griswold. Her death oc- 
curred in her seventy-sixth year. William 
was ninety-two when he died. 



6o 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Jesse Lathrop Moss, the father of the pres- 
ent Mr. Moss, was born in Ware, Mass., in 
1805. He married in [828 Fanny Dixon, 
daughter of Nathan I-', and Elizabeth Palmer 
Dixon, all of Westerly, and became the father 
oi tour sons and one daughter. These were: 
William Dixon, the subject of this sketch; 
Esther, the only daughter; Courtlandt Dean, 
oi New York; Nathan Fellows, who was a 
Major in the Civil War; and Jesse L., who 
is in the real estate business in Chicago. 
The mother died in her forty-second year. 
The father subsequently married her sister 
Sally, by whom he has had two children: 
iv D. Frankenstein; and Rowse B., of 
St. Louis. He lived two years after the 
death of his second wife, which occurred in 
1884. For many years he was a leading man- 
Hirer in Westerly, R.I. He was also a 
partner in the firm of Babcock & Moss, who 
built mills and hotels at that place, and did 
a very extensive business. Among the large 
contracts of this firm were the cotton factory 
at White Rock, the mills in Westerly and 
Stillrhan Mill. Messrs. Babcock and Moss 
were in business tor torty-three years, and 
made a noteworthy record in their line. 

The boyhood of William Dixon Moss was 
passed at school in Hadley, Mass. When 
quite young he evinced a deep interest in his 
father's business, and In- was in charge of the 
store for a time. He then went to California, 
rounding the Horn, and spending nine months 
on the voyage. After two or three years he 
returned home, just before his father's second 
marriage. He and Mrs. Moss reside at 136 
West Broad Street, Poquetuck. Moss Meads 
is the charming name of the place, so called 
it was built on a beautiful meadow of 
the farm that has been in the family for a 
great while. 

Moss was married October 17, 1S60, to 



Elizabeth Hazard, of Providence. She is a 
daughter of Stanton and Bethiah (Aborn) Haz- 
ard. Her father, who was a furniture dealer, 
retired from business many years before his 
death, which occurred in 1892, when he was 
eighty-two years old. Living with her is her 
mother, who was born in 18 14, on the day 
the British left Stonington. Her sister, who 
is a widow, resides in Providence, and has 
two children. The latter, a son and a daugh- 
ter, are great favorites of Mr. and Mrs. Moss. 
Mrs. Moss belongs to the Daughters of the 
Revolution. Mr. Moss has taken all the 
degrees in the Franklin Lodge of Masons in 
Westerly, of which he was a founder. In 
politics he is a Republican. Both he and his 
wife are members of the Congregational 
church, which they helped to organize with 
other earnest persons in the parlor of his 
father's house. Since 1890 they have occu- 
pied their present home, a most delightful 
and commodious, though unpretentious, one, 
enjoying their quiet life of leisure. 




^RS. JULIA A. LATHAM FOR- 
SYTH, the wife of George For- 
syth, of Salem, is the eldest 
child of John and Eliza (Brown) Latham. 
The other children of her parents are: Will- 
iam J. Latham, a liveryman of Westerly, 
R.I. ; and Elizabeth Esther, the wife of 
Charles H. Bailey, of Salem. The father 
died February 13, 1866, at the age of fifty- 
six; and the mother's death occurred at the 
home of Mrs. Forsyth on February 22, 1895, 
in the eighty-fifth year of her age, after eight 
years of sickness and suffering. Mrs. Latham 
was remarkable for her physical and mental 
powers. 

The marriage of Miss Latham with George 
Forsyth took place February 13, 1853. He 





PALMER BILL. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 






is a son ol Latham and Abigail (Lee) For- 
syth. I lis grandfather, Timothy Forsyth, 
who was probably horn in Scotland, foil 
the occupation of tanner in Montville, and 
married a Miss Latham. Timothy had at 
least three sons and a daughter. Of these 
Sanford, a sailor, was lost at sea in the 
prime of life; and William was a farmer in 
Massachusetts. The grandmother lived to a 
great age, and resided with her grandson 
Latham for many years. The father, Latham, 
Sr., was born in New London or Montville 
in 1760, and died on the farm now owned by 
his son and namesake in [835, at the aj 
seventy-five years. He had been a Selectman 

Montville, and he received a pension from 
the government for his services in the Revo- 
lution. His first wife was Eleanor Fox 
Forsyth, who bore him two sons and five 
daughters. The sons, IClisha anil Thomas, 
went to Livingston Count}-. His second mar- 
riage was contracted with Miss Abigail Lee, 
who, bom in [787, daughter of Ed band 

Rai he] (Thompson) Lee, died June 6, 1868. 
Born of this union were ten children, nam 
Sanford, in 1S05: Maria; Jane; Henry B. ; 
Edmund; Latham; Harriet; G 
tus; and Noyes. 1 members of the 

family now surviving are: Harriet, the widow 
of Samuel T. Smith, of New London: and 
Latham and G both i irmers in 

Salem. Latham, horn December 1, 1 S i 5 , 
inherited his father's farm of two hundred 

-. situated about a mile distant from the 
home of his brother George. George Forsyth 
bought his present farm ol on.' hundred and 
thirteen acres in 1868. His children 
Harriet Elizabeth, John Latham, Jennie 
Mai i '. I V. and Fannie Eliza. 1 lar- 

riel Elizabeth, who i ier in New Lou- 

don, was educated in the common schools and 
at the young ladies' high school, and for the 



past thirty-seven years has taught the district 
school. Indeed, since the age ol tour, with 
the exception of one year, her life has been 
passed in the school-room in the capacity of 
scholar or teacher. John Latham Forsyth 
died at the age of two years. Jennie Maria 
is the wile of Theophilus H. Hanney, a 
farmer ol Waterford, and has two sons and 
a daughter. George A. is a farmer and 
her in Waterford, and has three sons. 
Fannie Eliza died in February, 1887, ut con " 
sumption, at the age of twenty. She was a 
lovely girl, and, though young, a ripe Chris- 
tian and ready for the change which came so 
early. 



— * — . 



xALMI'.K HILL, an influential resident 
"-W of Norwich, was horn in the town of 
Ledyard, April 20, 1823, son of 
Avery and Betsey (Barnes) Bill. Joshua Hill, 
the father of Avery, divided his attention be- 
ing and farming. ()f his eight 
children, all now deceased, three were sons. 
His wife lived to a venerable age. Both 
in the 1 1 mctcry. 

Avery Bill, who was born in Ledyard, 
O'tolier 1, [797, successfully followed tile- 
r's trade in Ledyard, Griswold, and Col- 
chester. He also speculated in farm property 
mi extent, hut was, perhaps, better 

known in connection with his official duties as 
Constable, having served in that capacity for 
thirty years. Betsey Hill, to whom he 
married about the \. 1 , bore him ten 
children, four sons and six daughters, all ol 
whom reached maturity. Five of the number 
survive, namely: Palmer, the subject of this 
sketch; Maria E., the wile ol Horatio Bardon, 
living in Peoria, 111.; Emeline, the wife . 1 
William 0. Brooks, living in Lincoln, Neb.; 
Joshua, in Southington, Conn. ; and Abby, the 
wile of Henry I ). Frost, of Hartford, Conn. 



64 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



The father died in March, 1862; the mother 
on July 7, 1861, in her sixty fourth year. 
Both lie buried in the Yantic cemetery. 

Palmer Bill spent his boyhood on the farm, 
lie obtained a good education in the schools of 
Wilbraham, Mass., and of Sufficld, Conn., 
and afterward was engaged in teaching for 
three winters. After his marriage he worked 
at carpentry with his father-in-law. Although 
neither of the two men served an apprentice- 
ship to the trade, they were good workmen, 
and they erected a large number of houses in 
Norwich and other places. In 1852 Mr. Bill 
went to Peoria, 111., where he spent two years 
in the building and grocery business. Return- 
ing at the end of that time to Norwich, he pur- 
chased a farm. His present estate, at 211 
West Thames Street, with about two acres of 
land, was bought I y him in 1884. The small 
house then standing here has been replaced by 
an attractive and commodious residence. 

On January 15, 1S49, Mr. Bill married 
Miss Sarah Maria Brown, of Lebanon, Conn., 
a daughter of William W. and Nancy (Post) 
Brown. They have four living children, 
namely: II. Arthur Bill, of this city, who is 
married and has three daughters; Fannie M. 
Bill, for several years a teacher in the West 
Chelsea school district; Sarah T., the wife of 
John E. Post, of Norwich, by whom she has 
one son; ami Frank A. Bill, a shoe dealer, 
who is also married and lives in Norwich. In 
politics Mi. Hill is a Republican. He has 
served the town as Assessor for a long period, 
and he has been Tax Collector for several years. 
In both the old and new State-houses he held 
the position of door-keeper, and published the 
legislative statistics from 1882 to 1885 inclu- 
sive. He was for several years a member of 
the Board of Education, acting as visitor for 
one year; and he has been on the District 
School Board three years. He has held the 



important office of Registrar of Voters for over 
twenty-six years. Both he and his family 
are members of the Central Baptist Church, be 
being one of the Board of Managers. 



KRY C. PALMER, of the well- 
:nown firm of Palmer & Sistane, 
who keep a meat market at 450 
Bank Street, New London, Conn., was born 
in the town of Montville, New London 
County, May 4, 1838. His parents were 
Samuel W. and Harriet (Parish) Palmer. 
Samuel, his paternal grandfather, was a 
teacher and also the author of a manual. 

Samuel W. Palmer was born at Montville 
in 1796. He was a shoemaker, and he also 
owned and worked a small farm. He married 
Harriet Parish, of Norwich, this county; and 
they reared three sons and one daughter, all 
of whom are living except one, Samuel N., 
who died July 4, 1895, at the age of fifty- 
nine. The survivors are: William S., of 
Coshocton, Ohio; Harriet M., in New Lon- 
don on the old homestead; and Henry C. 
The father died in 1881, at the age of eighty- 
four years and six months; and the mother in 
1884, at the advanced age of eighty-seven 
years, being well preserved. 

Samuel N. Palmer was born at Montville, 
January 13, 1836. For a number of years he 
was proprietor of a first-class meat market in 
New London, and at one time he was inter- 
ested in two markets: but, being in failing 
health for several years before his death, he 
was not able to do so much business as he 
would otherwise have done. He was a man 
that was highly respected. In politics he was 
a Republican. At the age of twenty-five he 
was married to Eliza E. Holdridge, of Led- 
yard, Conn., daughter of Randall Holdridge. 
Of this union were born two children, 



BIOGRAPHICAL RFATF.W 



65 



namely: Nelson S., who has a meat market; 
and Ida K.. residing in New London. 

William S. Palmer, the eldest son, was 
born at Montville, March jo, 1828. He com- 
pleted his education at the Colchester Acad- 
emy, and, alter teaching school a few terms, 
went into the meat business, which he has 
followed to the present time, having rem 
from Norwich to Coshocton. He is a Repub- 
lican in politics, and in his fraternal relations 
he is a Master Mason. .He married on No- 
vember 2, 1853, Mary R. Brown, of W 

. this county, daughtei oi Daniel Brown. 
Mrs. Palmer died May 5. 1856, leaving one 
jhter, Mary I... now residing in New Lon- 
don. On September 4. 1858, William S. 
Palmer married Marietta M. Williams, daugh- 
1 William William-. Greenville, New- 
London County. By this union was one son. 
Willie ('.. who was horn October 1. 1862, and 
died September II, I 

Henry C. Palmer, at the 1 sevenl 

after acquiring a common-school education, 
ship! 're the mast on board the whaling- 

1 ■■Clematis" of this place. Captain I-;. 
Watrous in command. They wi 
thirty-four months, during which time young 
I 'aimer had been promoted to boat steel er. 
■ l" the thirty-two who shipped, he was one 
ol the live who returned. He followed whal- 
ing twenty-four years, wintering nine times in 
enland. At the expiration of the first 

tain, having I 
promoted from all the intervening positions, 
lie took Howgate's vessel for him on that 
command I trip. Palmer was 

master of five different vessels, making his 
last trip on the steamer "Callin n the 

return from V --traits in 1881. I le 

his brother, Samuel N.. were running a market 
in Colch inn., when he took command 

of this steamer, with which he had many mis- 



- after starting from the Far North. In 
politics he is a Republican, but sometimes 
votes independently; ami in his fraternal rela- 
tions he is a Master Mason. 

At the age of thirty-three Captain Palmer 
married Martha Holdridge, oi Ledyard, this 
county, a daughter of Randall Holdridge. By 
this union there are two children: Isabella, a 
young lad}-, who is book-keeper in her father's 
market; and Samuel, a bo The 

family live in a pleasant house in the town of 
Waterford, where they settled ten years ago. 




• 



Ml AIN OLIVER C. GRIFFIN, a 
veteran seaman, living in Stonington, 
was born in 1842 at Fort Jefferson, 
I.. I., son of John L. Griffin. The latter, now 
a vem rable man oi 

born in 1813 at Guili tin. He was 

a vessel rigger in his earlier years, and later 
was engaged in the coast trade, residin 
Fort Jefferson. During that time he had 
charge of three different vessels as captain. 
Since retiring from the sea he has made his 
home in Flanders, L.I., where he has a small 
farm. He married Hannah A. Griffin, who 
born at Fort Jefferson in [816, their 
union having been solemnized in 1N40. They 
became the parents of eight children, thn 
whom have passed to the lite beyond. These 
were: John H., who was the mat. 
and died in Flanders, L.I.. at the 
thirty years, leaving a widow, a son. and a 
daughter; William Edward, who died at the 
age 0! seventeen years; and Frank, who 
married very young, and died when but twenty 

. old. Those living are as follows: 
( >li\ ei ( '.. the special sub tch ; 

Hannah A., residing il Brooklyn, N.Y.. the 
widow ol E. W. Phillips, who was a boss 
penter and builder of that city; Charl - 1-'.. 



66 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



of Flanders; Joseph, of East Quogue, L.I. ; 

and Samuel S., who resides with his father in 
Flanders, and carries on the farm. 

Captain Oliver C. Griffin received a com- 
mon-school education in Flanders. At the 

of twenty years he began life for himself 
as a sailor before the mast on a wood boat 
plying between Long Island and Stonington. 
Within the first five years he worked his way 
up from the lowest position in the seaman's 
service to that of first mate. During the late 
Rebellion he was second mate on vessels char- 
tered by the government to transport army 
supplies from New York City to Southern 
ports. Being shipwrecked on the South Caro- 
lina coast, he was captured by a party of 
guerillas, and with his ship's crew had been 
kept a prisoner some ten days, when he was 
rescued by a detachment of the Ninety-sixth 
New York Volunteer Infantry, at Currituck, 
S.C. In 1866 he entered the service of the 
Neptune Steamship Company of Providence, 
R.I., as wheelman of a vessel plying between 
that city and New York, and has continued 
with the company and its successors since. 
Id- was employed as wheelman for four 
years, then as second pilot for the same length 
of time. In 1S74 he was promoted to the post 
of first pilot and three years later to that of 
captain. Captain Griffin has had many stanch 

.ds under his command, including the 
"Francis," "Eleetra," "Stonington," "Narra- 

ett," and "Massachusetts." Exception- 
ally fortunate, he has nut with no serious loss 

ccident, although he was in some of the 

most terrific gales off the coast. Me makes 

no long trips now. being seldom absent from 

his pleasant home more than a week at a time. 

Captain Griffin was married May 15, 1S76, 

Fannie E. Pollard, the only child of 

William J. II. and Eliz >'brough) Pol- 

I this city, with whom the Captain 



and his family make their home. The Cap- 
tain and Mrs. Griffin have two interesting 
children, namely: Grace Pollard, a young lady 
of seventeen years, now attending school in 
Brooklyn. N.Y. ; and William Pollard, a 
school boy of fourteen. Mrs. Griffin is a 
member of the Baptist church at Stonington; 
while the Captain still retains his membership 
in the Methodist church at Good Ground, L.I. 



•^YOHN L. PAYNE, a prominent farmer 
of Waterford, was born January 5, 
1S35, on Black Point, East Lyme. 
William L., his father, was a native of Block 
Island, R.I., born October 4, 1809; and his 
mother, Mary P. Halliday Payne, was born 
in New London, June 14, 18 10. 

William L. Payne, Sr., grandfather of John 
I... was at one time a farmer on Block Island. 
He married Margaret Clark, and some years 
later removed to Fisher's Island, where he 
was overseer of the island for William 
Winthrop for some time. He then went to 
Black Point, anil, purchasing a three-hundred- 
acre farm, devoted his attention to agricult- 
ure. He and his wife had two sons and two 
daughters — Eliza, Margaret, Simon R., and 
William L. Eliza became the wife of George 
Sheffield; Margaret married the Rev. Harlem 
H. Hedden, a Baptist preacher; Simon R., 
who was born on Block Island, married and 
had one son, Robert G., a farmer on Black 
Point, who owns the place on which his 
grandfather died. Simon R. and the two 
sisters lived to be octogenarians. After the 
death of the mother of these children Will- 
iam L. Payne married a second wife. He 
died in Waterford on the place now occupied 
by the subject of this sketch. 

William L. Payne, Jr., followed farming on 
Fisher's Island for a time, and also in Water- 





CHARLES G. BEEBE. 



lUOOk U'HM'AI. REVIEW 



6 9 



. coming here in [839, am! buying about 
sixty-five acres of land. Five years before, in 
1834. he had married Mary 1'. Halliday, the 
Rev. Daniel Wildman performing the cere- 
mony. Her mother, in maidenhood Mary 
Towers, and of English parentage, wis one of 
nine children, of whom five sons and two 

liters lived to he octogenarians. She 
died during the Civil War, in the house in 
which her grandson lives, at eighty-four ;. 
ol age. The subject of this sketch has an 
antique silk copy of the Powers coat of arms, 
a representation of the lion and unicorn on a 
blue and gold field. He also has an old Bible 
left by his grandmother, in which is the fam- 
ily record. It was printed in 1795, and was 

uted to Grandmother Powei s l>y her father 
in 1802. William I.. Payne, Jr., died June 
J7, 1S66. His wil\' died while on a visit to 
New London. I >■ tober 28, [883, aged seventy- 
thn 

John L. Payne was reared on his father's 
farm, on which he resided for some years 
attaining maturity. He was educated in the 
common schools and at an academy. He has 
since been 1 in general farming, 

• 1 town affairs. 
His farm is one of the best kept in the county ; 
and his home, though a modest one. is most 
pleasantly situated on thi oi the Sound, 

of which it commands a fine view. 

On January 22, 1857, Mr. Payne married 
Miss Harriet Daniels, a daughter ol Nehemiah 

els, of this town. I ler mol lei. < I1.11 - 

lotte Smith Daniels, was a daughter ol 

John Smith, a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. 

Payne have one daughter, Mary Annie Payne, 

mng lady who 1 it home with her 

ilitically, Mr. Payne is a Demo- 
crat. For the past nine years he has >< rved 
on the Ho iid -I Si . and he has also 

been a member of tl of Relief. He 



was a member of the legislature during the 

•M.ad-lock." 




HARLES GORDON BEEBE, 

lioi trait is here shew n, wa ed in 

business in the village ol Mystic, at 
first as a merchant and latei as a manufai I 
urer, for more than half a century; and for the 
last thirty years of his life he resided with his 
family on West Main Street in the house now 
occupied by his widow, Mis. Emily T. N 
Beebe. Mr. Beebe was loin in Norwich, 
Conn., November 16, 1818. lie was the 
younger son of William and Elizabeth (Brooks) 
Beebe, was a grandson of Johi I and was 

a descendant of Mvles Standish. William 
Beebe was a manufacturer in Norwich, and 
died there at the age of forty-five. His wife, 
Elizabeth Brooks Beebe, who survived him 
many years, lived to he seventy-seven, c 
in 1X65. The}' were the parents ol two 
and a daughter; namely, Eliza Jane, William 
N., and Charles Gordon. Eliza Jane married 
Calvin Stetson, became the mother of ten chil- 
dren, and died in the spring of 1896. Will- 
iam N. Beebe, who died in New Haven, 
seventy-two, had been married, and had lost 
all of his six children. 

At the age of twenty, in 1838, Charles 
Gordon Beebe came from Norwich to Mystic, 
and in company with the late ]■'.. R. Gallup 

in 1 1 . 1 1 1 e I e 1 lie D i S - 

solving his firm relations with Mr. Gallup, 

then formed a partnership with thi late I 
B. F. Palmer, and continued in the same line 
of business seven years more. In 1848 he 
in the manufacture of cotton twine and 
. which he continued with sui 
about forty four years. On Septembei 
1843, Mr. Beebe was united in marriage with 
Emily T. Noyes, who survives him, 



7° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



mentioned. Mrs. Beebe was born in Stoning- 
ton, Conn., daughter of Joseph and Eunice 
(Chesebro) Noyes. She is a descendant in 
the ninth generation of the American progen- 
itor of this branch of the Noyes family, who 
was a native of Nottinghamshire, England, 
whence lie came to this country in the seven- 
teenth century. Mrs. Beebe's father, Joseph 
Noyes. was twice married. By his first wife, 
Zurviah Wheeler, he had eight children, 
seven sons and one daughter; and by his sec- 
ond wife, Eunice Chesebro, he had nine chil- 
dren, five sons and tour daughters, Emily, 
Mrs. Beebe, being next to the youngest. All 
grew to maturity, and five are still living, the 
eldest, Nathan Noyes, a son by che first mar- 
riage, being ninety -four and the youngest 
seventy-one years of age. Joseph Noyes out- 
lived both his wives, dying in August, 1851, 
aged eighty-four. 

The death of Mr. Beebe occurred March 28, 
1895, his latest years having been passed in 

retirement. lie left a g 1 name. To quote 

from the obituary published in a local sheet: 
"Mr. Beebe was a citizen whose voice and in- 
fluence were always given to the side of virtue, 
temperance, and humanity. lie secured and 
maintained the respect of all those with whom 
he came in social or business contact, and by 
them will be long kept in remembrance." 

Mis pure faith and loyalty of affection are 
revealed in a poem dedicated to his wife on 
the forty eighth anniversary of their marriage, 
rtion of which we quote below, regretting 
that lack of space prevents us from giving it in 
full: — 

Through man ns and storms 

We have sailed life's sea tog 
Ami shared alike its changing forms 

( it foul and pleasant weather. 

ther eight and fort) years 
We've journeyed for our heavenly 1' 



Mid joys and tears, while hopes and fears 
Alternate frowned or cheered us on. 



Sickness and pain, as well as joy. 
Were wisely sent, our faith to try ; 

Hut He who gave us grace to live 
Will grant the needed grace to die. 

Now. as passing years remind us 
One soon must leave the other here, 

Our tested faith should closer bind us, 

While this great hope our prospects cheer: 

That, when the night of death is ended, 
We'll rise, from sin and sorrow free, 

In purer love our spirits blended, 
United for eternity. 

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Beebe was 
blessed by the birth of seven children, six of 
whom — Charles II., Edward S. , Emily A., 
Courtland, Lillian E. , and Herbert L. — lived 
to celebrate with them the golden anniversary 
of their marriage. Edward Stewart, the sec- 
ond son, unmarried, is engaged in the insur- 
ance business at Mystic; Emily A. is the wife 
of William A. Shutze, of Baltimore, Md. ; 
Courtland, of Norwich, is married, and has 
five children; Lillian E., widow of Erank R. 
Mallory, with her son, Charles B., and daugh- 
ter, Lillian Stark Mallory, lives with her 
mother here in Mystic; and Herbert Lincoln, 
a commercial traveller, who has his home in 
Syracuse, is married and has one son. The 
eldest son, Charles Hamilton Beebe, died on 
April 12, 1895, aged fifty years, but two weeks 
after the burial of his father, a cold having de- 
veloped into pneumonia. He had returned to 
his home in Roanoke, Vn. , where he was en- 
gaged in business. He left a wife and three 
children. In announcing his death, the Roa- 
noke Daily Times said of him: "Mr. Beebe 
has been connected with, and was practically, 
the Norwich Lock Manufacturing Company, 
lor almost a quarter of a century; and since 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



7« 



his removal to the city about five years ago he 
has done much toward the upbuilding of Roa- 
noke. He was a man of integrity and of char- 
acter, who enjoyed the full confidence of all 
with whom he came in business or social 1 on 
tact; and his death removes a man Roanoke 
could ill afford to lose." 




LIJAH B. HARVEY, who died at his 
home in Salem. Xew London Count)', 
Conn., September 9, 1895, was a son 
of Levi and Lucy (Benjamin) Harvey, and 
nnc el a family of four sons and four daugh- 
ters. The father was a blacksmith and farmer. 
< Ine of the sons died at fourteen, and the 
others lived to marry. The two youngest 
children are now living, namely: Parke li. 
II ev. a retired marine engineer of New 

Ion, Conn. ; and Olivia, widow of Charles 

Benj 1 sea captain, born in Norwich. 

Benjamin left great wealth, which 

was largely accumulated in South America, 

re his uncle had established a large busi- 
- in marine merchandise, dealing with 

lish firms. Mrs. Benjamin and her 

lugbter, the wile of Lord Walker, re- 
in London. England, at the present time. 
Mi. Elijah B. Harvey was born August 4. 
1812. lie married Miss Sarah A. Hilliard, 

tember 21, 1837. She was born Septem- 
ber 12. 1S14. daughter ol Joseph Hilliard and 
his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah 
Waterman. Mrs. Harvey now lives on the 
farm where her great-grandfather Hamilton 

the first settler. His daughter was born 
on this farm. May 31, 1756, in the old farm- 
house known as the Hannah Miller tot: 

: one hundred and eighty j d, in 

which six generations ol the family have li 

died. Miss Hamilti ied Zebulon 

Waterman, who was bom May 27. 1742. on 



Waterman's Point, Saybrook, Conn. Their 
daughter, Sarah Waterman, was born Oct 
11. 1779. She first married in 1802 Butler 
Treadway, who died leaving one daughl 
ainl she married, second. Joseph Hilliard, who 
was born in Ledyard in 1781. and 1 
sea captain and afterward a farmer. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hilliard had three children — Henry 
Oscar Hilliard a A. Airs. 

Harvey), and an infant son. Mrs. Sarah W. 
Hilliard die-d in December. 1849. at the age 
of seventy-one, her husband dying in April, 
[861, in the eighty-first year of his age. 
Mrs. Hilliard had a most retentive memory 
loi facts and past events, and could quote the 
Scriptures and repeat whole sermons with 
wonderful ease. 

Charles li. Harvey, only son of the late 
Elijah B. Harvey, conducts the farm lor his 
aged mother, now in the eighty-fourth year of 
her age. He was born July 28, [838. He 
received his early education in the common 
si hools of Salem, an I afterward studied math- 
ematics for a lew months in Norwich. He 
1 to earn his own living as a clerk in a 
retail grocery store, where he spent the first 
two years; and a third year he spent in the 
wholesale department. Becoming clerk on a 
steamboat at the agi hteen, he spent 

twenty years in the employ of the Norwich & 
New York Transportation Company, during 
which time ho w is I heii New I ondon a 
for two yi 

He married January 6. [862, Mary L. Stan- 
ton, daughter of John Stanton, of Norwich. 
The\- had two children — Frederick and 
Charles Waterman. Frederick, the elder. 
died when three months old. Charles Water- 
man Harvey, who is a marine engineer and 
unmarried, still makes his home on the old 
farm. I le was educated at 1 
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and began work a 



72 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



fireman on the Norwich line at the age of 
eighteen years. His next position was with 
tin' Morgan steamship line running from New 
York to Galveston, Tex. lie was promoted 
to position of engineer while with this line of 
steamships, ami after two years with the 
Panama Steamship Company he has spent the 
past two years as engineer of different pleas- 
ure yachts. 

Mr. Charles B. Harvey has spent his win- 
ters tor the last eight years in Salem. His 
mother received a fall in 1895, breaking her 
hip; ami since that time he has remained at 
home. He is a Democrat in politics, and 
represented the town in the legislature in 
[872. He is now the First Selectman, and 
he also holds the office of Judge of Probate. 



ISRAEL F. BROWN, of New London, a 
retired manufacturer, has had a long and 
successful career in business, producing 
machinery for two of the greatest industries of 
the United States, the manufacture and print- 
ing of cotton. He was born in Salem, Conn., 
December 31, 1 8 1 o, son of William F. and 
Sarah G. (Edgerton) Brown. His grand- 
father, William Brown, was one of seven 
brothei 5. 

William F. Brown was born at Gale's Ferry, 
Conn., about the year 1 77 r . Having learned 
the trades of cabinet-maker and ship-joiner, he 
was 1 I'H some time in the manufacture 

"I furniture in Montville, this State, sending 
his goods to the West Indies. In [823 he 
went Smith, and for some five years was in 
business in Macon. Ga., where his brother, 
]•",. E. Brown, was afterward the proprietor of 
the Brown House. E. E. Brown erected tins 
hotel, was a prominent man in Macon, a fus- 
tice of the Peace for several years, and wis 
iated with Genera] Winfield Scott in 



military service at the time of the Seminole 
War in Florida. William F. Brown died in 
Macon in 1837. He was married in 1795 in 
Norwich, Conn., to Sarah G. Edgerton, of 
that place, who also died in 1837. They were 
the parents of five sons and two daughters, 
who all married. Of these Eunice died at 
the age of sixteen; Elizabeth Leffingwell, who 
was the wife of Samuel Jacob Hicks, died at 
eighty-three; Alexander D., an ingenious 
natural mechanic, died in Columbus, Ga., at 
eighty-three, leaving a family. Israel F. is 
the only survivor of the seven children. The 
sons, who were all gifted with mechanical 
skill, conjointly made two miniature vessels 
about three feet long, perfect in every detail 

— a brig and a steamer having a copper boiler 

— named respectively the "Bunker Hill" and 
"The Independent." 

Israel F. Brown was left with a brother in 
Norwich, Conn., when his parents went South 
in 1823. In 1S25 he and his brother fol- 
lowed: and in 1828 he was engaged by Sam- 
uel Griswold to work on cotton-gins in Clin- 
ton, Ga. After spending three years in that 
employment, he returned then to Macon, 
whence he went to Girard, Ala., where he was 
engaged in the same industry for some years. 
Then, with Dr. E. T. Taylor, he formed the 
firm of E. T. Tavlor & Co., who carried on a 
successful business manufacturing cotton-gins 
at Columbus, Ga., for the ensuing eight years. 
In 1858 he returned to Connecticut, and es- 
tablished a cotton-gin factory in New London, 
beginning in 1 861 to make these machines for 
New York firms in his own name. The war 
put an embargo on the trade in the South, but 
he found a market in Brazil until after peace 
was declared. In 1869 he formed a stock cor- 
poration, of which he has since been the presi- 
dent, and his son, Edward T., the secretary 
and treasurer. In 1882 the plant was moved 




JOHN M. N. LATH RIM'. 



niOCR M'lllC \l. REVIEW 



75 



tn a new brick structure on Pequot Avenue of 
imposing architecture and measuring five 
him (I red by fifty feet. The capital stock of 
the company at this time was twenty thousand 
dollars. One of the leading manufacturing 
enterprises in the United States, it employs 
n two hundred and fifty to three hundred 
hands, and has turned out eighteen hundred 

m-gins in one year, worth from one hun- 
dred and eighty dollars to two hundred and 
fifty dollars each. During the past ten years 
it has made printing-presses for the Babcock 

any. 

Mr. Brown was married at the age of 

twenty-two to Maria L. Martin, of Junes 

. Georgia, who lived but a yen after 

that event. In 1837 he was united to Ann 

Smith, of Macon, Ga., who died in New 

Ion in [865, aged forty-six years. She 

him five children, of whom two suns and 

daughter reached maturity. The elder 

Edward T., is the secretary, treasurer, 

and manager oi the manufacturing company of 

which his father is president, the elder man 

being practically retired, and leaving all the 

onsibility to his son. The second child. 

1'.. was employed by the American 

. Note Company some ten years, and then 

went to Georgia to take charge of the Brown 

Hotel. He died in Macon in [886, in the 

1 life, leaving three children. The 

' living child of Mr. Brown's s< < 

5 irah A., is the wife of G< 

ix. of this city. In [866 he contract 
third marriage, which united him with Miss 
Emma Conant, of Massachusetts, the adi | 

hi r • 1 William Albertson. There are 
no children by this union. In politics Mr. 

n favors the Democratic party. He i- a 
Master Mason, and belongs to the Indepen- 
dent Orderol < I d I Hows. His religious be 
lief is that of the Swcdenborgians. On Au- 



gust 13, 1895, he moved from the house on 
Howard Street, which had been his home for 
twenty-seven years, to the pleasant and at- 
ii 1- Live cottage at 83 Willets Avenue, where 
he now resides. 



I IHN MILTON NEWTON LATHROP, 

a representative farmer of Bozrah and 
formerly Representative from Franklin 
to the Connecticut legislature, was born in 
Franklin, New London County, Conn., May 
20, 1830, son of James and Clarissa (Spi 
Lathrop. lie is a descendant of the Rev. 
John Lathrop, a Congregational preacher, who 
settled in Scituate, Mass., and who was the 
founder of the Lathrop family in America. 
The line ol descent continues through Samuel 
Latin Norwich, Conn.), Ezekiel, James, 

and James (second) to John. G ither 

James Lathrop, who resided in Franklin, 
fought for .American independence, and is said 
to have served all through the Revolutionary 
War. 

James Lath ond, father of John, was 

a native and lifelong resident of Franklin. A 
farmer anil carpenter by occupation, he was 
quite prosperous, and was one of the prominent 
and highly respected citizens of his day. Ik- 
lived to reach his seventy tilth year, dying in 
He held seme oi the town offices, and 
in politics he supported the Whig party. A 
man o| strongly defined character, he was 
positive in his opinions, and was an anti- 
Mason. His wife, I lai issa, was a nativi 

ut. < II her children, the only sur- 
vivor is the subject of this sketch. 

John Milton Newton Lathrop began his 
tt inn in the common schools of Franklin; 
and his schooling was completed at the Phil- 
lips Academy in Andover, Mass. lie was 
d to farm life, and has given his time and 



7<"> 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIF.W 



attention to agriculture. He continued to 
reside in his native town until September 4, 

1895, at which time he moved to his present 
farm in Bozrah. lie owns some two hundred 
and forty acres of land, situated in this town 
and in Franklin; and as a farmer lie is practi- 
cal, energetic, and progressive. 

Mr. Lathrop was first married to I.ydia E. 
r, daughter of Samuel A. Gager, late of 
Bozrah. By this union there is one son, 
Charles E. His present wife, whose maiden 
name was Lucretia Hough, is a native of this 
town, and daughter of Jedediah and Amelia 
(Fowler) Hough. Her father was bom in 
Bozrah; and her mother was a native of Leba- 
non, Conn. Neither is now living. Mrs. 
Lathrop is the mother of three sons — James 
1 1., Clifford A., and Jabez G. 

While residing in Franklin, Mr. Lathrop 
took in active part in public affairs, serving as 
a Grand Juryman for many years, as Assessor 
I years, and as a Selectman for one term. 
In the autumn of 180,0 he was elected to the 
lature, in which body he served with abil- 
ity for tw In politics he acts with the 
Republican party, and he and Airs. Lathrop 
are members of the Congregational church. 



HARLES PRENTICE ALEXAN- 
DER, a successful farmer of North 
Waterford, New London County, 
Conn., was born in Groton, this county, Feb- 
ruary 8, 1832, son of William and Eliza 
(Williams) Alexander. The father was a na- 
tive of the same town, born in 1S00. The 
mother was born in Stonington, Conn., in 
1802. They were married in 1825. and had 
three sons and three daughters — Eliza Ann, 
William, Charles P., Pardon, Emily, and 
Amanda. Eliza Ann married William El- 
;e, and died in Groton in 1892, at the age 




• 



of sixty-two, leaving four children. William 
was a sailor ami farmer, and died in Groton at 
the age of forty, leaving four children. Par- 
don is a carpenter at Groton Banks, where he 
holds the office of Postmaster. Emily mar- 
ried Simeon Perkins. Amanda is now .Mrs. 
Chipman. With the exception of Charles 
Prentice, all the children live in Groton. 
The mother died in 1864, anil the father in 
1875. 

Charles P. Alexander was brought up on 
the farm, and acquired a common-school edu- 
cation. At the age of twelve years he shipped 
as sailor on a fishing-smack, but followed the 
sea during one summer only. For fifteen 
years thereafter he was employed as farm 
hand, receiving from four to eighteen dollars 
a month, out of which he contrived to save 
quite a fair amount. In 1870 he invested his 
savings in a pleasant farm of thirty acres, 
which by energy and perseverance he has since 
greatly improved. It is picturesquely situated 
on an eminence commanding a fine view of the 
Thames and of the hill on which Commodore 
Decatur planted his cannon; and it also has 
excellent buildings. Mr. Alexander has a 
good dairy of Jersey cows, and sells milk in 
New London. 

On November 14, 1858, he married Harriet 
E. Jerome, daughter of Jesse and Harriet 
(Loomis) Jerome, who had five children, three 
sons and two daughters, of whom four are now 
living. The parents have both passed to the 
life immortal. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander have 
two children: Charles Jesse, a farmer, resid- 
ing at home with his parents; and Frank 
Jerome Alexander, a merchant at Quaker 
Hill, who married Martha Alice Lawson. 
The brothers were both educated in New Lon- 
don. In politics Mr. Alexander affiliates 
with the Democratic party. The family are 
members of the Baptist church. 






IMOC.KAI'IIIC.M. REVIEW 



77 




ENJAMIN F. BAILEY, a prosper- 
ous sail -maker oi New London, 
was born in Niantic, New London 
inty, September J. 1840, son of Henry 
and Susan (Franklin) Bailey. I lis paternal 
grandfather died in Niantic in 1845, at an 
advanced age. Henry Bailey, the lather, 
■ to this count}- near the close of the 

ith century. He married Su 
iklin, of Block Island, and they had a 
1 ten children, seven sons and three 
liters, only two of whom are now living: 
namely. Benjamin F. ; and George, his young- 
est brother, a sailor, who lives in Mobile, 
The father and mother both died at the 
sixty-four, the mother surviving her 
husband fifteen years. 

njamin F. Bailey, alter attending school 
the usual period, at the age oi sixteen 
in to learn his trade with the firm of Ar- 
nold & Beebe. He subsequently enlisted in 
1. C, Twenty-first Connecticut Regi- 
ment, and served thirty-lour months as pri- 
. with the exception of a short time when 
he was in the hospital. Alter concluding his 
military service, he began business in Noank, 
where he continued nearly thirty y 

rally about eight men, and con- 
ing the sail-making industry in that 
[n [891 he came to New London, 
where he has more competition, there being 

Mr. Bailey's loft is loi I 

in the rear of the I ' 1' ing a man of 

ful to turn out none but the 

work, li ;e business. In poli- 

he affiliates with the Republican party, 

and has occasionally held town offices, lie 

belongs to Williams Post, G. A. R., oi 

Mystic, and also belongs to the Independent 

Order of Odd Fellows, in which he holds the 

ce of Chaplain. 

At the age of twenty -one years Mr. Bailey 



was united in marriage with Miss Abby 
Terry, of Colchester, Conn. She died leav- 
ing a daughter, Georgiana, who is now the 
wife of Samuel Dennis, a machinist. In 1 
Mr. Bailey married for his second wife Miss 
Amanda Franklin, of Ontario County, New 
York. By this union there are two sons: 
Fred Bailey, who is a resident oi Pen sac 
Fla. : and John, who resides with his lather, 
is married, and has two daughti 




GBERT X. MOORE, a well-known 
nurseryman oi Waterford, Conn., son oi 

~ William ('. and Abby I.. .Richards) 
Moore, was born in Waterford, New London 
County, Conn., June 3, 1830. His grand- 
father, William Mi in Lyme, 
!i., hut subsequently removed to Western 
New Y"rk. Here he was joined by nearly all 
of the members of his family, including the 
father of the subject <\ the present sketch, 
who at a later period emigrated to Ja 
villc. Wis., where, in company with threi 
(jed in the manufactui 
tanning-mills. 

Egbert N. Moore remained in V. ! at 

the home of his maternal nts, Daniel 

and Jemima (Hardin-) Richards, both lineal 
descendants of John Rich 11 irly 

settlers of New London. At the 
teen Mr. Moore went to New London to learn 
tin- carpenter's trade, at which he worked for 
a number of years in I icut, and also in 

Philadelphia, Pa., and Charleston, S.C. On 
February 5, 1853, he went to California, via 
I sthmus, I- g on I I ner "Tennes- 
whieh was wrecked near the harbor oi 
San Francisco. The si, oner was a total 
but the p rs and mail bags were saved. 

Mr. Moore worked at his trade in California 
for over three years, and then returned to Con- 



7« 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



nccticut, where on May II, 1857, he was mar- 
ried to Lucy E. Hunt, second daughter of 
William and Ann (Baxter) Hunt, of Water- 
ford, Conn. Mrs. Moore was born in Leices- 
ter, England, April 22, 1839, uut came t0 
this country with her parents in early infancy. 
Her grandparents settled in Western New 
York, and died near Nunda, Livingston 
County, where many of their descendants are 
still living. 

Soon after Mr. and Mrs. Moore were mar- 
ried they went to Independence, la., where 
they lived nearly four years. While there 
Mr. Moure took a pedestrian tour to Topeka, 
Kan., walking four hundred miles in thirteen 
and a half clays. In 1861 he made another 
trip to California, going afterward to Virginia 
City, New, in April, 1862, crossing the 
snowy mountains on foot. In Virginia City 
he was a foreman carpenter at the Gould & 
Curry mill for two years and a half. In the 
fall of 1866 he returned to Connecticut, and 
purchased the site of his present home and 
nursery, about one mile south of Uncasville, 
Conn. It consisted of twenty-eight acres of 
land, beautifully situated upon a commanding 
eminence in the midst of fine natural scenery. 
Since its purchase many improvements have 
been made, suitable buildings erected, and 
also a nursery established. Mr. Moore's love 
of nature and botanical studies has eminently 
fitted him for his work, and he has designed 
and planted many fine places in New London 
County. His home grounds contain rare 
ornamental trees of large size, together with 
many choice and beautiful plants and shrubs. 

Mr. and Mrs. Moore have had four chil- 
dren: Mary Baxter, who was bom in Inde- 
p :ndence, la. : Egbert William, who was acci- 
dentally drowned in his nineteenth year: Lucy 
Abbie; and Annie Hunt — the last three 
in Waterford, Conn. 




lISS LOUISA J. BREWER, a rep- 
resentative of one of the oldest 
families of Norwich, and resid- 
ing at 92 Washington Street, one of the most 
sacredly historic homes in Norwich, is a 
daughter of Lyman and Harriet (Tyler) 
Brewer and a grand-daughter of John ami 
Hannah (Tracy) Tyler. She is a descendant 
of Colonel Thomas Leffingwell, who was one 
of the original settlers in this part of Con- 
necticut, and owned all the land in this sec- 
tion. Mary E. Perkins, in "The Old Houses 
of the Ancient Town of Norwich," makes the 
statement that his grandson, Isaac Tracy, to 
whom a small portion of the original estate 
descended, could walk on his own land a dis- 
tance of nine miles in one direction. John 
Tyler, the maternal grandfather of Miss 
Brewer, was the first rector of Christ Church, 
which he served for fifty-four years. That 
church stood on the site of the present fine 
stone structure, in which a tablet to his mem- 
ory has been placed. The land, therefore, 
was originally given to the church by the 
Tyler family. Being a servant of the Church 
of England and loyal to the crown, he was 
greatly disliked as a Tory, and his life was 
frequently threatened. In 1768 he went to 
England to receive ordination, and in that 
same year was joined in marriage with Miss 
Hannah Tracy, a daughter of Isaac and Eliza- 
beth (Bushnell) Tracy. The Rev. Mr. and 
Mrs. Tyler had nine children, of whom three 
were sons; and all but one son grew to matur- 
ity. The father was born in 1742, and died 
in 1823. 

Lyman Brewer was engaged in mercantile 
business in Norwich for a few years. Then 
be became the cashier of the Thames Bank, 
holding that position for a quarter-century 
from its establishment. He was one of the 
founders of this institution and of the Nor- 



I 



<z* r* 




LYMAN BREWER. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Si 



wich Savings Society. He died in the house 

now occupied by his daughter, June 19, 1S57, 

seventy years, leaving a name that was a 

mym for integrity and benevolence. His 

widow survived him until November 3, 1S80, 

the venerable age of ninety-two 

ml retaining her faculties to the last. 

The Brewer home, now over a century old, has 

ipied by members of this family for a 

period of eighty years. With the exception 

ine years spent in California, Miss Brewer 

has lived here all her life, often surrounded by 

her nieces and nephews, whose frequent visits 

make the old home bright with their youth. 

Arthur II. Brewer, a grandson of Lyman 

Brewer, is a director in the Thames Bank, 

h is the second largest national bank 

in New Kngland outside of Boston. Miss 

■ er is active in church work, and in her 

and social life exerts a kindly Christian 

influence. 



Ol IX .MILTON KEENEY, sea cap- 
tain, for the last ten years of his life 
retired and residing at his home in 
1 ondon, Conn., where he died on No- 
iber 15, 1897, was born in this city. 1' 
ber 12, 1S12. His parents were Captain 
Giles and Tassie (Chappell) Keeney. His 
nal grandfather, John Keeney, who also 
born hei I under General Washing- 

ton in the Revolutionary War. 

iptain Giles Keeney likewise was a native 
New London, being born in 1700. In 
1 he married Tassie Chappell. They had 
nine children, seven of whom grew to matu- 
rity; namely, Samuel, John M., Giles, Will- 
iam, Albert, Jane, and Caroline, the latter 
now the only survivor. Samuel C. Ki 
u.i- captain of a fishing-smack for nearly fifty 
lb died in New London in March, 
1SS5, at the age of seventy-five, leaving a 



widow and six children. Giles Keeney, Jr., 
was a seaman. He died in 1867, in the prime 
of life, leaving a widow and three children. 
William, another sea captain, died in Water- 
lord, Conn., of a cancer, in 1SS7, at the a. 
seventy-one, leaving a widow and two chil- 
dren. Captain Albert Keeney died at his 
home on Blinman Street. New London, in 
1891, at the eventy-seven, survivi 

his v. : three children. Caroline, now 

Mrs. Lester, a widow, lives at Shelter Island. 
N.Y. Jane married Captain Charles Lewis. 
and died in 1867. at the age of fifty, leasing 
three children. Her husband died in 1895, at 
the age of eighty years. Mrs. I ssi'e C. 
Keeney, the mother, died at the age of thirty- 
six: while Captain Giles Keeney, the father, 
survived many years. 

John M. Keeney 1» l at the 

early age of five years mi his lather's fishing- 
smack; ami three years later he hired himself 
out as cook on a fishing-vessel, at a s.tlai 
three dollars a month. When he was fourteen 

lipped before the mast, having his salary 
rom fourteen to eighteen dollars a 
month that year: and at the a ventecn 

he commanded his first vessel, the "Flas 
of which he was the sole owner. Five years 
later he sold that vessel, buying the "At! 
which he owned and commanded three yi 

quently captain and owner of 

eight quarter of a century he- 

was in government emplo . captain in 

the inspecting service and engineer depart- 
ment. During that time he commanded a 
schooner and the steamers "Cactus," "Jr 
and "Mistle: Lor twenty-om he 

on the "St. G 's Bank." In 1887 

he retired, having 'ing 

[n politics he was formerly 
t Republican, but in his later years he affili- 
ated with the Prohibition party. 



82 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



On January 20, 1S34, he was united in mar- 
riage with Louisa Young, daughter of Joseph 
and Lyclia (Butler) Young, of this city. Mrs. 
Keeney was born April 4. 1S15. She became 
the mother of nine children, six of whom 
. to maturity — Mary, Dr. 15. M., Louisa, 
Wallace, Lavinnia, and George W. Mary, 
now widow of Thomas Allender, kept house 
for her father in his later years. Dr. B. M. 
Keeney is a medical practitioner in New York 
City. lie has a sou who is a dentist in New 
London. Louisa Keeney married John C. 
Ladd, of Middletown, Conn., and has one 
daughter. Wallace, a dentist in New Lon- 
don, has one daughter and a son. Lavinnia, 
wife of Frank Phillips, of this city, has two 
children, the elder now a young lady and the 
younger a little boy. George W. Keeney. 
who was born in 1840, died at the age of 
thirty-six in 1876, leaving a widow, who died 
ten years after, and a son, who died four years 
ago. Mrs. Louisa V. Keeney died at the age 
eventy-one on March 24, 1886. For fifty- 
five years the home of Captain and Mrs. 
Keeney was in the unpretentious but comfort- 
able dwelling built by him at 24 Truman 
Street, lie ami his wife were members of the 
Baptist church for nearly sixty years; but, as 
they were not rigidly sectarian, they often at- 
tended other churches. 



T^TERHERT M. CAULKINS, the effi- 
r^J cient Postmaster of Lyme, is a na- 

J-^ V. , tive of this town, born October 13, 

1856, son of Lemuel A. and Maria Caulkins. 
His grandfather, Elisha Caulkins. was a well- 
known farmer and influential citizen of Lyme 
in his day. Llisha had a family of four sons 
and three daughters, all of whom are living 
with the exception of Elisha, Jr., and Lemuel, 
lather of the subject of this sketch. Lem- 



uel A. Caulkins was born in November, 1822, 
near Thanksgiving time, and died January 13, 
1896. He was a farmer by occupation, and 
was prominently identified with the public 
life of the town, filling capably numerous po- 
sitions of trust and responsibility. He was 
Tax Collector for some thirty years, Select- 
man of the town for several terms. Assessor, 
and Representative to the legislature. He 
was .111 active member of the Baptist church 
and a man widely respected by his fellow- 
townsmen. He married Maria Calkins, of 
Wilbraham, Mass., who bore him four sons 
and one daughter. Mrs. Caulkins is now re- 
siding with her son, Eugene D., on the farm. 
The other children besides the subject of this 
sketch are: Frederick L., a member of the 
mercantile firm of Caulkins & Post, of Middle- 
town, Conn. ; Frank L., a mechanic, em- 
ployed in a large manufactory in Chicago; and 
Emma A., wife of W. S. Searle, a machinist 
with Mr. Whiton in New London. 

Herbert M. Caulkins received a common- 
school education, and became himself a 
teacher, having charge of a school in Lyme 
for some twelve or thirteen terms. He then 
worked three years as a butcher, a part of that 
time being in business for himself, and dur- 
ing the rest being employed by others. For 
thirteen years he was a partner in the firm of 
Champion & Caulkins in this place, but sold 
out his interest in January, 1896, to Roger 
B. Champion, his former associate. He has 
been Postmaster of Lyme for the last three 
years, and his administration of this office has 
given general satisfaction. He has also 
served the town capably as Assessor. He is 
a member of the Baptist church, in which he 
has served as Deacon, following in the foot- 
steps of his father. 

On December 25, 1882, Mr. Caulkins mar- 
ried Miss Ida J. Champion, daughter of Cal- 



^ 




NATHANIEL 0. HARRIS. 



BII IGR UMIK'AI. REVIEW 



8 S 



vin 15. and Anna R. (Slate) Champion. Mrs. 
kins is the tenth in order of birth of a 
family of fifteen children, all oi whom at- 
tained maturity except two sons, Frederick 
ami Israel, who died in childhood. Three 
daughters and a son have since passed away. 
Mr. and Mrs. Caulkins have an adopted 

nee Edgar Caulkins, a young man of six- 
years of age, and the youngest graduate 
oi the Morgan School of Clinton, Conn., grad- 
uating at the age of fourteen. He is w>w 
clerk for his foster-father. He is the son of 
Mis. Caulkins's sister Mary, who mai 
Curtis Lamb, and died of consumption when 
her son was a lad of nine years. In 1894 Mr. 
kins built his present commodious resi- 
where the family have a pleasant 
home. 



JJ 



R. NATHANIEL OTIS HARRIS, 

mai 1 an invalid home at 19 

North Main Street, New London, 

born in Salem, this county, on May 2, 

His parents were Samuel and .Anna 

i [arris. 

e earliest known paternal ancesl 

■ presented the fifth generation of his 

ly in Weymouth, England. He came to 

. and in 1690 removed from Boston, 

-., to New London, bringing his three 

-James, Asa, and Ephraim. The eldest 

familiarly known as Lieutenant James, 

born in i Mass., in 1673. lb 

friendly with the Indian illy with 

0, the Mohegan chief. From him he 

purchased valuable tracts of land on the 

River, from New London to Norwich 

and Colchester, Conn. His first wife, whose 

maiden nam* died ; and he 

subsequently married her widowed sister. He 

died at the age of > ir years, leaving 

nine children. 



His son, Jonathan Harris, was born June 
15, 1705. He married I' liter 

"I Judge Jo>cph (Hi-, a niin of wealth 
distinction and an extensive Ian 
his wife, Dorothy Thomas, v a native 

of Scituate, Mass. Jonathan and Rachel 
Harris had thirteen children. Their son 
Nathaniel, horn April 2, 1743, who was the 
grandfather of the subject of this biography, 
served as Captain in the Revolution, lie mar- 
1 ied Mn \ rozer, oi Col hi iter, Conn., on 

nary 1 , 1 764 ; anil this inn was 

blessed by thirteen children. 

Samuel, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Tozer) 
II. mis, born December 10, came a 

farmer in East Haddam, Conn., where he 
lived for a quarter of a century. On Septem- 
ber 29, iS'05, he was married to .Anna (His, 
daughter of Deacon Nathaniel Otis and grand- 
daughter of Hon. Joseph (His. They had six 
children — Rachel A., Samuel Selden, II 
riet Salome, Lydia Maria, Nathaniel 0. , and 

ibetb. Rachel A. married Aaron T. 
Niles. She died in East Haddam, May 21, 

, at the aye of thirty-seven years, lea'. 
three children. Samuel Selden, a farmer, 
who was born March S, 1809, married Mi 
A. Baker in 1836, and died in [882, at Mont 
ville, Conn. Harriet S., bom August ;, 
[812, died Decern bei hi, 1838. Lydia M., 
wife I Swan, died in I isl 1 laddam, 

Conn t forty- 

eight years. Elizabeth C. married Ephraim 
Martin, a fanner of East Haddam. The father 
I Methodist in East Haddam, 
when h member, lie 

died in that town in 1857, in the seventy- 
seventh year of his Mis wife lived until 
dying at the ty-three. 
Nathaniel < >. II element- 
ary education in the common remain- 

11 the farm until he was eighteen 



86 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



age. He then attended Colchester Academy 
one war, subsequently taking a course of study 
in West Poultney, Vt., for two years. He 
was graduated from the New York Medical 
College in [854. He gained practical experi- 
in his profession by studying with Dr. 
J. T. Evans, a pioneer of homoeopathy in New 
York City, for whom he worked perseveringly 
at a time when their remedies were prepared 
by hand. For some years he was engaged in 
teaching, during which time he also gave hy- 
dropathic treatments, gradually working into 
medical practice altogether. From 1854 to 
1S57 he lived in New London. He then 
settled in Last Iladdam, where he remained 
until 1884, when he returned to New London, 
buying his present residence and Home for 
Invalids. In politics he votes independently. 
Fraternally, he is a member of Columbia 
Lodge, No. 25, F. & A. M., East Haddam, 
and is also a Scarlet Member of Middlesex 
Ige, No. 3, I. O. O. F., of East Haddam. 
Doctor Harris has been three times married. 
His first wife, to whom he was married on 
November 14, 1855, was Juliette Mason, a 
native of this city. She had twelve children, 
ten of whom reached maturity, and nine are 
now living, namely: Pauline Goddard, of New 
York City; Ulrica Eleonora, wife of William 
\V. Gates in East Haddam; John Mason, a 
: ut of New London; Juliette A., wife 
of Dr. E. E. Williams, the successor of his 
father-in-law, Dr. Harris, in East iladdam; 
Nathaniel Otis, Jr., a veterinary surgeon of 
Hartford, Conn.; Florence Celestia, a trained 
nurse in Xew York City, who has won fame 
in the treatment of contagious diseases; Mary 
Christina, who married W. Von Haff, of New 
Y nk City; Victor Emanuel, who is with an 
electric company in Hartford; and Jennie 
June Harris, who has been for five years 
efficient post-mistress at Moodus, Conn. 



Another daughter, Harriet Halsey Harris, 
died in East Iladdam, January 13, 1887, at 
the age of twenty-four years. Dr. Harris lost 
his first wife on July 31, 1875, at the age of 
forty-four. He married his second wife, Miss 
Sarah E. Johnson, January S, 1S77. She 
died on April 30, 1894, leaving one daughter, 
Anna Otis, born July 12, 1883. On Septem- 
ber 12, 1S95, Dr. Llarris married his third 
wife, whose maiden name was Helen J. Trimm. 
Her parents were George E. and Mary E. 
(McArthur) Trimm, her father being a native 
of Spain, and her mother a native of Scotland. 
Mrs. Harris was instructed in the profession 
of nursing by her grandmother, Mrs. Jean 
McArthur, who was a trained nurse of Glas- 
gow, Scotland. Mrs. Jean McArthur was the 
mother of fifteen children, and during the 
course of her life she was nurse to over eigh- 
teen hundred. She died in April, 1895, at the 
age of seventy-eight, leaving four daughters, 
two of whom are trained nurses. By Dr. 
Harris's last matrimonial alliance there is one 
little son — Otis George, born June 11, 1S96. 
Among the Doctor's kin have been some 
remarkable instances of longevity. His 
grandfather Otis lived to be over ninety, and 
his grandmother Harris to be one hundred 
years old; while his Aunt Hannah, wife of 
Jared S. Smith, of New London, lived to be 
over one hundred and eight years old. 




"ORACE F. YORK, a farmer of 
North Stonington, was born in this 
neighborhood, November 14, 1828. 
His great -grandparents, Thomas and Deborah 
(Brown) York, were married November 10, 
1737. His grandfather, Jesse York, born Au- 
gust 1, 1740, son of Thomas York, was a 
farmer of the same place, in good circum- 
stances, and served his country in the Revolu- 



BIOGRAPHICAL RFAHEW 



87 



tionary War. Jesse married Anna Breed on 

January 7, 1762. He died December 13, 
!, and his wife on April 28, 1S1S. They 
had a family (if four sons and three daughters, 
none of whom are living. 

The father of the present Mr. York was 
Nathan, born in Stonington, September 8, 
1771. He married a Martha Breed, who was 
born August m, [791. They had fifteen chil- 
dren, of whom tour sons and two daughters 
■■ to maturity, and Horace F. and William 
' >. are the only survivors. The place, com- 
prising about one hundred and fifty acres, had 
divided between these. The father's 
deatli occurred January 5. 1 S54, and the 
mother's on March 9, 1873. She was a de- 
vout Baptist and a noble mother. Both rest 
in the family burial-ground on the farm. 

Horace F. York was reared to farming, re- 
ceiving his education in the common schools, 
of seventeen he engaged in teach- 
and he subsequently taught for eight 
winter terms. All bis life has been pa 
on the old farm where his lather and grand- 
father lived and died: and he has occupied his 
ent house since lie erected it, together 
with the substantial barn and outbuildii 

A member of the Baptist 
church for the past fifty years, lie has been 
mil clerk of the society for several 
intendent of the Sabbath- 
1 for over twenty years. He was mar- 
ried December 1. 185 . to I' borah, daughter 
ihn and Matilda (Brown) Main, ol North 
ington. She had four brothers and three 
lb r mother died September 1, 1 
tir, and her father on Juni 
1S54. Ol li . Mis. Hannah E. Clark, 

a widow, living in this town, is the only sur- 
vivor. Mr-. York died July 5, [89 

I I children an- : Anna 
!».. the wile "I William 11. Latham, ol II 



R.I., ami the mother of two daughters - Ethel 
and Mabel; Mary M., who is the wife of the 
Rev. Archibald McCord, a Congregational 
minister at Keene, N.H., anil has two chil- 
dren Beatrice and Horace M. ; and lb 
!•'. York, Jr., a farmer at Tenally, X.J., who 
has a son, Ernest W. York. Mr. York gave 
his children a liberal higher education, and 
all have at seme lime been , ngaged in the pro- 
fession oi teaching. 




'ALTER FITZMAURICE, the pro- 
prii 'he Morning Telegraphy a 

popular daily paper published in 
New London, is a native of Providence, R.I., 
born in 185 t . When but six months old, his 
parents, Michael and Mary Fitzmaui 
brought him to \ Ion. In 1S64, being 

then thirteen Id, he entered the employ 

of D. S. Ruddock, of the New London Star, 
with whom he began as a printer's devil. 
ailing in [868, thanks to the kindness ol 
the 1 Inn. I lenry I'. I lorn, he 
tinue his education for four years in the first 
evening school of Connecticut. From the 
position of devil lie rose i; 
tion to that of the proprietor of the 
Telegraph. The Telegraph, which has eight 
-even columns each, and was started 
July 1 5, 18X5, has become th 

- mi New London Count}-, with a circu- 
lation of upward of live thousand. 

Mr. Fitzmaurice is a Democrat and an 
ardent advocate "i the principles of that party. 
During the State legislal 

and 1893 be served as a Representative. A 

prominent temperano lor two 

at of the Catholic Total Absti- 

icut, and represented 

the State at many nation.il conventions. He 

1 ving his seventh yeai is I the 



ss 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



New London Board of Trade, and is a trustee 
of the Mariners' Savings Bank. 

In 1873, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Fitz- 
maurice was married to Miss Elizabeth 
Hogue. Six children, two sons and four 
daughters, live to bless their union. These 
arc: Walter, a graduate of the Bulkeley 
School, now employed in the Telegraph office; 
Teresa, who is attending school; Frank; 
Bessie; Ruth; and Mary. Mary, the young- 
est child, is three years old. The family re- 
side at 563 Burk Street, which has been their 
home since 1891. 



-TTSJTEZEKIAH UFFORD WILLIAMS 
r^l was born August 10, 1822, on the 
U 9 V^ old "Cider Hill" farm in Ledyard, 
Conn., and died June 21, 1891, at the home 
of his later years in New London, now occu- 
pied by his daughters, the Misses Antoi- 
nette A. and Jenny E. Williams. His father 
was Warren Williams, son of Seth and Abi- 
gail Williams, the grandmother Abigail being 
a descendant in the sixth generation of Robert 
Williams, who settled in Roxbury, Mass., in 
1637: while the grandfather, Seth Williams, 
was fourth in descent from William Williams, 
one of the early settlers of Ledyard, the 
line being William,' Henry,-' Henry, 3 Seth. 4 
Warren Williams, son of Seth, married on 
[anuary 12, 1815, Elizabeth Stanton Gallup. 
She was descended on the maternal side from 
Thomas Stanton, who was Governor Win- 
throp's interpreter in his dealings with the 
Indians and a man of much influence in those 
early clays, and on the paternal side from the 
famous old Indian fighter, John Gallup, so 
thai Mr. Williams could claim many brave 
ancestors. His great-grandfather, Phineas 
Stanton, served in the campaigns of ("ape 
Breton and Crown Point; and Colonel Nathan 



Gallup, another great-grandfather, was a dis- 
tinguished officer in the Revolutionary War. 
Enoch and Daniel Stanton and Lieutenant 
Henry Williams, who fell at the massacre at 
Fort Griswold, September 6, 1781, were his 
great-uncles. 

Hezekiah U. Williams was one of a family 
of ten children. When he was quite a young 
boy his parents moved to Salem, Conn., where 
his father kept the tavern and store. Here he 
was educated, helping his father in the store 
as he grew older. Later he went out to De- 
troit, Mich., entering the employ of his uncle, 
Gurdon Williams, who, having gone to Michi- 
gan in the early clays, had become wealthy 
through large mining and railroad interests. 
His uncle gave him a position as conductor 
on one of the trains running out of Detroit, a 
position attended with much more danger than 
at present, as the old strap rails were then in 
use. Afterward he went into the office at 
Pontiac, Mich., where, with his partner, Mr. 
Charles B. Petrie, he had charge of his uncle's 
large shipping business. It was customary 
for one of the partners to sleep in a room ad- 
joining the office; and on the night of Mr. 
Petrie' s marriage a man (supposed to be a 
discharged employee) thought this would be a 
good opportunity to rob the safe, as, of course, 
Mr. Williams would attend the wedding. But 
here he was greatly mistaken, for Mr. Will- 
iams, being prevented from going by extra 
business, was quickly awakened and read}' to 
rush out on the would-be burglar, though, 
his revolver being unloaded, he had nothing 
better to defend himself with than a wood 
cleaver left that clay by a carpenter. This, 
however, proved sufficient; for the burglar 
was so greatly surprised at finding any one 
there that he hurriedly fled. 

Mr. Williams, contracting malarial fever in 
its worst form, was compelled to give up and 




Ill./LKIAII U. WILLIAMS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REYIIW 



Ml 



irn East in the hope of regaining his 
health. He very slowly recovered, and was 
married in Salem, Conn., by the Rev. Charles 
Thompson, to Celina Anna King Niles. Sin- 
was a daughter of Horatio Nelson Niles, of 
Groton, Conn., who was descended from the 
Allyns, Averys, ami Stantons, of this State, 
his mother being Anna Allyn, his grand- 
mother Anna Avery, ami his great-grand- 
mother Anna Stanton. 

When a young man Mr. Niles went out 

with his brother Edwin to what was then 

kmnvn as New Connecticut, afterward ca 

the Western Reserve, taking up land in Port- 

ty, near the present city of Akron, 

There he married Celina King, daugh- 

I Joshua King, who had left his home in 
the State of New York, and was among the 
fir>t to settle in "Old Portage." She died 
July ii, 1826, soon after the birth of their 
little daughter; and. his brother dying of 
sumption, May 21, 1826, Mr. Niles, 

ken with the same disease, hastened to 
return to the old family home, near Centre 

on. It must, indeed, have been a tedious 
journey in these days, and especially so to 
this half-sick man, with a little baby of only 
six months to care for. Nevertheless, Groton 

at last safely reached; and here Mrs. 
Anna Warner Bailey ("Mother Bailey") 
kindly helped him, and loaned him a pillow, 
mid more easily carry the baby, 
lor the rest of the journey was accomplished 
on horse-back. He did not long survive, 
dying March 7, 1S27, leaving his child to the 
kind care of his father and mother. W 
her grandparents moved to Salem in 1840, 
ourse, went too, and thus was enabled 
to attend the famous old - Music V 

where she must have been a favorite pupil of 
Mr. Whittlesey's; tor her children treasure 

ral pieces ol music dedicated to her, as 



well as sundry notes in Mr. Whittles 
quaint and original hand. 

Mr. and Mrs. Williams went West on their 
wedding trip, visiting in Ohio and Michigan, 
intending to settle in Detroit; but, as she 
took a great dislike to the West, he was 
obliged to give up that plan, and 
East again, purchasing a farm near the village 
of Mystic, Conn., now the site of Mystic's 
beautiful cemetery. They lived there 
several years, and then removed to (in .ton 
village, where Mr. Williams entered the em- 
ploy of his uncle, Erastus Gallup. He next 
purchased a farm in Waterford, on the Nor- 
wich turnpike, about two and one-half miles 
from New London. At that place three of 
their children were born, a son and two 
daughters. Their eldest daughter, Celina 
Camilla, was born February 4, 1S52, on the 
farm near Mystic village. The second, Flor- 
ence King, was born in Groton, Conn., Feb- 
ruary 11, 1854. Mr. Williams became a very 
successful farmer, took much interest in the 
affairs of the town, and held many offices of 
trust. The death of their only son, Paul 
Frederic, a most promising boy, in his fifth 
year, was a great blow to both parents. He 
wis born in Waterford, August 8, 1859, and 
died there, June ", 1864. This ! fol- 

lowed seven years later, May 17, 1872, by 
the death of the eldest daughter, and on April 
26, 1873, by the death of Mrs. Williams. 
Thus bereft, Mr. Williams determined to 
give up his farm, and move into New London. 
He tir. st located on Huntington Street; and 
while living there his second daughter died on 

mber 23, 1880. Finally, he purch 
the Churchill property the family home) 

in East New London, where he died June 21, 
1891. 

Mr. Williams was l Co both 

he ind his wile joining the First Church 



9 2 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Christ in New London soon after their re- 
moval to Waterford. He was a man of ster- 
ling integrity, whose advice was frequently 
sought in legal matters; for he had that ready 
grasp and comprehension of the law which 
characterized his brother, the late Judge Will- 
iams, of 1'ittsburg, Pa. 



f STkORGE ROBERT HARRIS, M.D., 
\ \3 I a prominent physician and surgeon 
of Norwich, is a native of Preston, 
Conn. He was born December 20, 1864, son 
of George A. and Catherine Amelia (Dewey) 
Harris. Robert Harris, the father of George 
A., who was a native of Bozrah, this county, 
was a cabinet-maker, painter, and decorator, 
and worked in Norwich for N. S. Gilbert. 
He married Betsey Brewster, a daughter of 
Benjamin Brewster and a direct descendant of 
William Brewster, who came here in the 
"Mayflower." Grandfather Harris died in 
1864 or 1865, when about forty-seven, and his 
widow in 1895, when about seventy-seven 
years of age. They were the parents of three 
-us and one daughter. 

George A. Harris, born in 1839, nas been 
employed on the 'Norwich & Worcester Rail- 
road, beginning at the bottom and working 
his way up through the different positions, in- 
cluding that of conductor, station agent at 
Norwich, and division freight agent for many 
years. In September, 1893, he was obliged 
to resign on account of illness. After a sick- 
ness lasting four years, lie died August 22, 
[897. His wile has borne him five children 
— Elijah D., George R., Hattie Augusta, 
Jennie Louisa, and Fffie Louella — all of 
whom are living in Preston. 

George Robert Harris spent his boyhood on 
a farm, and for a time drove a milk cart for 
his uncle. He obtained his preparatory edu- 



cation in the district school and at the Nor- 
wich Free Academy. Then he entered the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons in New 
York City, from which he was graduated in 
1885. After that he spent considerable time 
in different hospitals, first in the New York 
and Roosevelt Hospitals. Later he was 
house surgeon to the Charity Hospital for 
eighteen months, and, following that, to the 
Chamber Street Hospital for fifteen months. 
In April, 1889, Dr. Harris joined his uncle, 
Orris F. Harris, M.D., who has been in prac- 
tice here for thirty years. This uncle was a 
medical cadet during the Civil War, and was 
on duty at the Alexandria Hospital. 

In politics Dr. Harris is a Republican. 
He is a member of the city, county, and State 
medical societies. He is a Mason of the 
Mystic Shrine; the Master of St. James 
Lodge, No. 23, F. & A. M. ; and a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Of 
an agreeable personality and skilled in his 
profession, no doubt can be entertained that a 
successful future lies before him. On No- 
vember 27, 1896, he was joined in matri- 
mony with Miss Jessie L. Hegarty, daughter 
of Cornelius and Nettie (Morse) Hegarty, of 
West Wareham, Mass. His first child, a son 
named George A., was born November 27, 
1897. 



.*.... 



IRA F. LEWIS, the proprietor of the 
only hotel at Jewett City, was born in 
the town of Plainfield, this State, mi 
May 20, 1S45, son 0I Caleb and Patience 
(Johnson) Lewis. The family settled origi- 
nally in Rhode Island, where it has been 
prominent and influential. Its first represent- 
atives in America were two brothers, who 
came in the seventeenth 'century from Wales. 
One of these, John, was the direct ancestor of 
Mr. Lewis. Grandfather and great-grand- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 






father Lewis were each named John. The 
former, who, horn in Coventry, R.I., about 
[788, died in 1813, became a man of influ- 
ence and prominence, and was sent to the 
Rhode Island State legislature. His wife, 
who was a Miss Jordan before marriage, sur- 
vived him for a number of years, and con- 
tracted a second marriage, by which she be- 
came the mother of three children. She lived 
to a good old age, and was buried in the cem- 
Coventry, which was also the burial- 
pi. ice of her first husband. 

leb Lewis, the only son of Grandfather 
I • wis, was born in Coventry, August 22, 
.. and his death occurred on September 
12. 1886. He was reared by his grandfather. 
. Patience, born in Coventry on Au- 
[819, was the youngest child of 
Johnson, who died in 1823, leaving 
his widow with three sons and four daughters, 
is still living with a daughter in Nor- 
wich, active in mind and body. Mr. Lewis's 
parents, who were married in Coventry in 
7, came to Connecticut in 1843, settling 
on their farm in Plainfield, Windham County, 
where they lived for five years. They subse- 
quently resided in Sterling for three yi 
In 1853 they came to Jewett City, where the 
husband was employed by J. & W. Slater for 
' nine years, and later was a farmer and 
i^ter. Their six sons and three daughters 
• to maturity, and had families. Of these 
Ira F. was the fourth-born. The eldest child, 
Mary J., married Stephen A. Green. After 
Mr. (Ween died of fever, she married Edwin 
I- Ingraham. She died in October. 1S72. 
thirty-six years, leaving two children. 
Henry W. and Rhodes K. Lewis, twins, are 
married and have children. James E. and 
Emma M. were also twins. James is living 
in Worcester, and Emma is the wil 
Charles < Ilin, of this place. Edgar L. Lewis, 



who was accidentally killed in Boston in Au- 
gust, [892, was survived by seven of his eight 
children. Ida A. is now Mrs. Allied Barrett, 
"t Norwich, and Charles L. Lewis is in 

Sterling. 

When eight years of age Ira F. Lewis en- 
tered the Slater mill. After working there- 
until l86l, he lived at home, and drove a 
team for his father. At the age ol twenty- 
one he started a store in company with his 
father for the sale of confectionery and fruit. 
In 1 868 he embarked in the hotel enterprise, 
beginning business on his present site, his 
father buying the stand. The old house in 
which he started, and which was burned in 
1878, was replaced by a much more commodi- 
ous one. Within the last two years this 
building has been enlarged and 1" . It 

is now ninety-three by littv feet, four sti 
high, and contains forty-one guest rooms, fur- 
nished in a manner fitted to secure the great- 
est comfort ami convenience of the gir 
There are modern improvements throughout 
the house. The dining-room and parlors 
would do credit to a much larger hotel. The 
only hotel in Jewett City, it is well patronized 
in the summer by people who find it a de- 
lightful place in which to spend the heated 
season. 

On May 13, 1869. Landlord Lewis was 
married to Lydia A., daughter of James and 
Mary (Clark) Sweet, of Jewett City. Mr. 
and Mrs. Sweet are both deceased. Their 
only son, William E. Sweet, went to tin- 
Civil War in 1861 with the Twelfth R 
ment, and was killed at the- battle ot Port 
Hudson. Besides Mrs. Lewis, there are two 
other daughters living, namely: Sarah, now 
Mrs. James M. Young, ol Warren. R.I.; and 
Mary I"., now Mrs. William II. Baker, 
of Warren. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have lost an 
infant son, William h". They have a dai 



94 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ter, Sadie F., who is fifteen years of age. 
Mr. Lewis is a Past Chancellor of the Knights 
of Pythias and a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a 
Democrat. He has served the town in va- 
rious local offices, and was its Representative 
to the legislature in 1896. He was Captain 
of Company II of the Third Regiment, suc- 
ceeding Dr. Soule. Mrs. Lewis and daughter 
attend the Congregational church. 



"irXANIEL B. 1 

I I now retired 

( — KLS was a well-kr 



HEMl'STKD, who is 
from active business, 

mown jeweller of New 
London. Born in New London, July 9, 1822, 
son of Daniel B. and Grace (Lanpheer) Hemp- 
sted, he comes of one of the oldest families in 
the State. His descent is traced back to 
1645, when one of his ancestors, Joshua 
Hempsted, erected a house in this place. His 
great-grandfather, Captain Nathaniel Hemp- 
sted, of New London, who was a seafaring 
man, commanded a privateer during the Rev- 
olutionary War. When New London was at- 
tacked, Captain Hempsted happened to be at 
home, and during the defence of Fort Non- 
sense, in which he took an active part, was 
shot through the hip. Though the wound was 
a serious one, he recovered sufficiently to be 
able to follow the sea for a number of years 
after. During the trouble between France 
and this country he was in the West India 
trade, and his vessel was chased for several 
days by a French man-of-war. The fatigue 
and exposure incident to this trying situation 
led his old wound, and eventually caused 
his death, though then in the prime of a vig- 
orous manhood. In 1760 he built the stone 
house in front of the old Hempsted house al- 
above. Tin- stone house was built at 
the same time that the Perkins house was 



erected by the Huguenot settlers, who came 
to this country at that period. Captain 
Hempsted was married in 1727 to Hannah 
Booth, of Long Island, anil reared three 
daughters and three sons, all of whom had 
families. Of these Samuel B. Hempsted, 
who was both the second child and second son, 
and the grandfather of Daniel B., was born in 
New London in 1755. He was the captain of 
a vessel for a number of years, and died in 
1795. On September 17, 1779, he was 
united in marriage with Lucretia Goddard. 
She left two children, namely: Lucretia, who 
was born in 1782, and died at the age of six- 
teen; and Daniel B., the father of the subject 
of this biography. The Captain subsequently 
married again, and his second wife survived 
him. 

Daniel B. Hempsted, Sr., was born in New 
London in 1784. He was left an orphan at 
the age of eleven, with some property: and his 
uncle, Giles Hempsted, was appointed his 
guardian. Giles Hempsted accompanied a 
colony of thirty persons, mostly ship-builders 
and rope-makers, who went from New London 
in schooners to Alexandria, Va. , and thence 
across the mountains to Marietta, Ohio. 
When fairly settled in their new home they 
engaged in building schooners and freighting 
produce to New Orleans. The Hempsteds of 
the Western Reserve are descendants of this 
Giles. In Marietta his nephew grew to man- 
hood; but he was not content to stay there, as 
the malarial climate seriously affected his 
health. When he was eighteen years of age, 
he returned to New London; and there he 
learned the watch-maker's trade with Asa 
Spencer, in the employment of a Mr. Doug- 
las. Asa Spencer, who was a remarkable 
man, invented the engine-turning machine — 
a contrivance never since improved upon — and 
a tool for making the indentations in thimbles. 




NELSON MORGAN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 






When Mr. Douglas died, his employees, 
Hempsted and Spencer, continued the business 
under the firm name of Spencer & Hempsted, 
the latter furnishing the capital to purchase 
tlie estate, and taking Spencer's experii 
ami mechanical genius in lieu of cash. In 
I S 5 1 Mr. Hempsted erected the house and 
where he lived and managed his busi- 
lt is a solid brick structure, four 
s in height, with some thirty [eel front- 
and the jewelry store is still there, occu- 
pied by his son's successor. This site has 
been occupied by jewelry firms for over a 
century, and it was here that Mr. Hempsted 
led his trade. His death occurred in 
1852. He was married May 4, 1806, to 
Lanpheer, oi New London, a daughter 
mes ami Sarah (Mavhew) Lanpheer. 
Mr. Lanpheer, who was a naval officer, was 
i| th.' volunteers who took the "Luren- 
burg." lie was taken prisoner, with all on 
1 the frigate "Trumbull" — on which 
lie was a lieutenant — captured off the capes 
Delaware. His wife died in 1865. 
She was the mother of eight children, live of 
11 attained maturity, namely: Lucretia 
the widow of David Hustace, now in 
klyn, X.Y.; Caroline I.., the widow o| 
Hem. 0. Ames, in Jersey City; Elizabeth, 
the widow of Samuel N. Valentine, late oi 
New York City; Daniel B., the subject ol 
this sketch: Augusta S., who was the wife 
ie Rev. James T. Hyde, and died in Chi- 
■ in 1890. The youngest child, Helen, 
died in her eleventh year. 

The present Daniel 11. Hempsted was edu- 
d in New London. He learned the 
jeweller's trade with his father at the 
stand where the latter acquired the knowl- 
In 1X45 he became his lather's part- 
ner; ami he was in active business in this 
place until [88 1, when he retired. Mr. 



Hempsted has been actively interested in pol- 
itics for many years favoring the Republ 

side-; but he has never allowed his name ! 
used in connection with publi 
Masonic fraternity he lias attained the Mas- 
ter's degree. 



Tq^ELSi IN M( IRGAN, station agent at 
Poquonnock Bridge, Conn., on the 

i-? V, . . StuiiiiiLttoii Division ol the Old 
Colony Railway system, and [own Clerk of 
Groton, is a native of the village ol Noank, in 
the same town. He was born July <~>, 1830, 
son of Roswell and Jemima (Fish) Moi 
He comes from an old Welsh family, whose 
history has been traced by X. II. Mm 
author of the Morgan Genealogy, to the year 
800 in Wales. The immigrant ancestor was 
James Morgan. 

As early as 1712 the progenitor of this par- 
ticular branch settled in Xoank and became 
the owner of a large trad ol land. His home- 
stead is now owned by Nelson Morgan of this 
sketch, having been held by his descendants in 
the male line for about one hundred and 
eighty-five years. Roswell Morgan, son of 
Joshua, was horn in Noank in 1790, and died 
in 1S39. He was a mariner, and I in 

the coasting trade. His marriage to Jemima 
Fish took place September 24, [814. She 
was born in Groton in 1 787, daughter of 
Thomas Fish, who served in the Revolutionary 
War two or three months, November to Janu- 
ary, under Captain Hungerford. She \\ 
endant of Moses and Martha (Willi 
Fish, who were married in Groton in 1 
Five children, two sons and three daughl 
were bom to Roswell and Jemima Mm, 
One daughter, Harriet, died at the 
seven. Caroline married Frederick A. Will- 
iams, and died aged twenty-two years. Ihiee 



,,x 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



are still living, namely: R. A. Morgan, of 
Noank; Amanda, widow of Perry Bennett, re- 
siding in Springfield, 111., whither she went 
in i S 5 5 ; and Nelson, of this sketch. 

Having received a good practical education, 
when eighteen years of age Nelson Morgan 
n teaching in common schools; and that 
occupation he followed about twenty-five years 
all together, in Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
Michigan, and Illinois. lie first went to 
Michigan in 1852, and after teaching a few 
months in Hillsdale County returned to Con- 
necticut, remaining here until 1857, when he 
made a second trip to the same place. The 
year following he went from there to Winches- 
ter, 111., as a teacher. In 1862 he enlisted 
at Jacksonville, 111., in the One Hundred and 
First Illinois Infantry, Company B, entering 
as a private; and during his eighteen months 
of service he rose to the rank of Second Lieu- 
tenant, lie eventually resigned his commis- 
sion on account of disability, and returned 
home. He entered his present position as 
station agent of Poquonnock Bridge four years 
ago, and by his faithful performance of all 
duties lias won the respect and confidence of 
both his superiors in office and the patrons of 
the road. 

On June 28, 1855, Mr. Morgan married 
Miss Virginia Haley, daughter of Henry 
Haley, and grand-daughter of Elisha Haley, 
who was often in the upper and lower houses 
ul the Connecticut legislature as far back as 
1810, and who was also twice a Congressman 
from this district. The Hon. Elisha Haley 
was a man of means and high mental endow- 
ment, and though not a church member be was 
always a ruling spirit for the right. Mr. and 
Mis. Morgan bail a son, Harry Archie, who 
died at Groton Centre when sixteen months 
old. Their living son is John Albeit, who 
was born in Bethel, Morgan County, 111., 



March 23, 1861, and received his schooling in 
the common schools of Illinois up to 1875, 
when he came to Connecticut with his parents. 
Not long after he entered the employ of Brain- 
ard & Armstrong, doing errands and sweeping 
the stere, sleeping there nights. He was with 
them about eight years all together, during five 
of which he travelled as a salesman in New 
York. Following that he was a commercial 
traveller from New York City until 1S93, 
when the territory of the Cherokee Nation was 
opened for settlement, and he went thither 
and lived for six months. He came to his 
present position as Assistant Town Clerk to 
his father in 1894. He was married, first, 
January 4, 1888, to Hattie Rathburn Potter, 
of Noank, daughter of James Potter. She 
died January 4, 1892, four years to a day from 
the date of their marriage, leaving no chil- 
dren. He married for his second wife, No- 
vember 7, 1896, Harriett Slocomb Storey, by 
whom he has one child, Mary Virginia, born 
October 7, 1897. John Albert Morgan is a 
member of the New London Historical and 
Genealogical Society, and during the past 
three years has done considerable work in the 
line of genealogical research. 

Nelson Morgan has been a Republican from 
the birth of the party. For ten years he has 
served on the Board of Education, and has 
been a Justice of the Peace six years. In 
1894 he was elected to the office of Town 
Clerk, defeating his predecessor, who had held 
the office for twenty years consecutively. 
Fraternally, he is a Master Mason and a mem- 
ber of the G. A. R. 



LIVER DFNISON CHESEBRO, 
late an esteemed and influential resi- 
dent of Stonington, for many years a 
member of the Board of Burgesses, was born 




BIOGR M'HICAI. REVIEW 



99 



in this town in 1820, and here spent the 
greater part of his long and useful life. His 
death, which was caused by accident, occurred 
on January 4. 1895. Mr. Chesebro was the 
son of Denison and Martha (Denison) Chese- 
bro, and was named for his maternal grand- 
father, Oliver Denison. On his father's side 
he was a descendant of William and Anne 
Chesebro, who were married in 
Boston, Lincolnshire, England, in 1620, came 
to this country, and in [650 settled at We- 
quetequock, establishing the first Puritan home 
within the present limits of Stonington, 
Conn. They had four sons, the eldest being 
mel, then twenty-two years of age, and 
the youngest, Elisha, a lad of twelve. 

Oliver Denison, the grandfather above 

named, whose wife was Martha Williams, was 

n of George, Jr., and Jane (Smith) Deni- 

mdson of George and Lucy (Gallup) 

Ik nison, and great-grandson of Ben Adam and 

Prentice) Gallup. Captain John 

Gallup, the father of Hen Adam, was a noted 

Indian tighter. 

When about thirty-five years of age Oliver 
D. Chesebro entered the employ of the Ston- 
Steamboat Company, being intrusted 
the full charge of repairs of the wood- 
work of the steamers on their line. He con- 
tinued to hold the position, and filled it so ac- 
ibly that he was subsequently retained in 
the enlarged business of the Providence & 
Stonington Steamboat Company. 1 1 is ability 
and integrity won and kept the approval and 
confidence of his employers, and he was soon 
charged with the entire supervision of that de- 
partment of the business. As a citizen of the 
ough ol Stonington, he was held in the 
highest respect. He was of a retiring dispo- 
sition, and never sought preferment, which 
was, however, often most fittingly bestowed 
upon him, official duties being worthily dis- 



charged. As senioi membei of the Boai 
Burgesses he was the acting warden during 
the long absence ol Warden Ephraim Will- 
iams. He was chief of the tire department 
for ten years, from 1870 to 1 I always 

took an active interest in its affairs. For sev- 
eral years he was a director in both the First 
National Bank and the Savings Hank ol Ston- 
ington, and he was also a stockholder and a 
director in the Stonington Building Company. 
He was a membei- of the First Baptist 
Church and a most liberal contributor to its 
support. In Wadawanuck Council, No. 110, 
American Legion oi Honor, he held the high- 
est office. Of an unusually active and indus- 
trious temperament, even alter the possibility 
of his retiring on a comfortable competency 
was assured, he chose rather to continue his 
interest in his business. 

Mr. Chesebro was married March 6, 18 
to F ranees H., daughter of Benjamin F. and 
Eunice (Stevens) Hancox. Her father was 
born in Stonington, January 22, 1803; and her 
mother was born in the same place, July 24, 
1803. They were married January 30, 1825, 
and reared two sons and four daughters — 
Benjamin F., Prances 11., George S.. Mary 
Jane, Emeline P.. and Alice 1). The first of 
these, Benjamin F. Hancox. born in < 
1825, is now a resident of Cliftondale, Mass.; 
Frances H., now Mrs. I born 

February 8, 1827; George S. Hancox was 
born March 15, 1830, and died in Stonington, 
August 1, (866; Mary Jane was born July 8, 
1832, and became the wife of Captain Ben- 
jamin F. Cutler, of Brooklyn, X.V.; Emeline 
P., was burn October 29, 1835, and married 
Erastus Chesebro; Alice I), was born 
10, 1S45, and is now the widow of Elias Bab- 
. Two 1 hildren came to brighten the 
home of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver I). Chesebro, 
namely: Mary Ella, who was born June 20, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



1848, and died in April, 1850; and Mary 
Contest, bom August 5, 1852, now the wife 
of Horace X. Pendleton, of Stonington. Air. 
and Mrs. Pendleton have one daughter, Maria 
Louise, born May 14, 1879, now occupied 
with the study of the violin in Brooklyn, 
INLY. 

Mr. Chesebro's death was a sudden one, and 
came as a shock to his family and the whole 
community. Leaving his home in the morn- 
ing, apparently in perfect health and vigor, he 
went to Westerly, R.I., five miles distant, on 
a little matter of business, and, falling 
through an open space from one of the upper 
stories of a building to the cellar, was at once 
cut off from the living. His days were many 
and useful, and his virtuous memory will long 
be cherished. Mrs. Chesebro still lives in 
Stonington. 




UST1X (>. GALLUP, better known as 
A. O. Gallup, who died at his late 
home in Salem, New London 
I ounty, Conn., April 12, 1 896, was born in 
the town of Ledyard, Conn., December 27, 
[828. He was the second son of Alfred and 
Eliza (Hewitt) Gallup, and was a lineal de- 
idant of Captain John Gallup, who came 
from Mosterne Parish, County Dorset, Eng- 
land, in 1630, sailing in the good ship "Mary 
and John " from Plymouth on March 20, and 
arriving at Nantasket, near Hull, May 30 of 
that yeai\ 

John Gallup went fust to Dorchester, but 
soon afterward removed to Boston, where he 
joined the First Church, January 6, 1634. 
His wife, Christobel, joined on June 22 of the 
year. He was made a freeman, and was 
of the earliest grantees of land in the 
northern part of the town, having a wharf and 
house in the locality then known as Gallup 



Point. Besides these he owned Gallup's 
Island, where he had a snug farm, also a 
meadow on Long Island and a sheep pasture 
on what became known as Nix's Mate. Ik- 
was a skilled mariner, and made frequent 
trading expeditions on the coast, one of which 
is memorable by his encounter with the mur- 
derers of his friend, John Oldham. His 
vessel was the only source of communication 
between the two colonies of Rhode Island and 
Connecticut; and at one time, when his vessel 
had been overdue, and he was at last heard 
from, Roger Williams wrote to Governor 
Winthrop, "God be praised, John Gallup has 
arrived." He died January 11, 1650, at his 
home in Boston. His wife died there, Sep- 
tember 27, 1655. 

Their son John, born in England, came 
over in 1633. In 1643 he was married in 
Boston to Hannah Lake, daughter of John and 
Margaret Read Lake. Her mother was the 
daughter of Edmund Read, Esq., of Wick- 
ford, Essex County, England, sister of Eliza- 
beth Read, wife of John Winthrop, Jr., Gov- 
ernor of Connecticut. They had ten children, 
one of whom was Benadam, who was born in 
1655 in Stonington County. He married 
Esther Prentice, daughter of John and Esther 
Prentice, of New London, Conn. His wife 
was born July 20, 1660. Both were members 
of the Congregational church in Stonington. 
He died August 2, 1727, and she died in 
1 75 1, at the age of ninety-two. Lieutenant 
Benadam, son of the first Benadam and Esther 
(Prentice) Gallup, was born in 1693 at Gro- 
ton, and died September 30, 1755. He mar- 
ried Eunice Cobb, January 11, 1716. Their 
fifth son, Henry, one of their eleven children, 
was born October 5, 1725, and married Han- 
nah Mason, daughter of Nehemiah and Zerviah 
(Stanton) Mason, October 4, 1750. He died 
in 181 1, at the age of eighty-six, having 



BIOGRAPHIC \1. REVIEW 



outlived his wife three years. She was the 
md-daughter of Major John Mason, 
was horn in Stonington, June 10, 1726. 
Henry Gallup, Jr., son of Henry and Han- 
nah (Mason) Gallup and grandfather of Aus- 
tin ( >. Gallup, was born October 17, 1758. 
He married November 17. [792, Desire Stan- 
b) whom he had three children — Alfred, 
Anna, and Desire. Allied Gallup married 
I VV. Hewitt, October 19, 1823. He 
died at Salem, December 24, 1854; and his 
died in New London, February 21, 1876. 
! seven children, three sons and four 
liters. Five of them lived to a mature 
lely, William A., Austin O., Harriet 
Laura E., and Lewis A. William A., 
the eldest son, was born June 28, 1827, and 
died August 31, 1843; Harriet A., the eldest 
ater, was born October 1, 1836, in 
m; Laura E., born in Montville, May 28, 
1840, is the wife of Sanford W. Haven; and 
\. Gallup, the youngest of the five, 
born June 30, 1846. 
Mr. Austin O. Gallup was brought up on 
the home farm, and taught his first district 
' the age of twenty-one, being thus 
pied for five succeeding winters. In 1854 
1 the topographical survey ol New 
York, and during the next ten years was en- 
I in his business in New York, Massa- 
setts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ken- 
tucky. Ik- furnished the only topographical 
survey then made of ninety miles of the Alle- 
ny range of mountains, which at one time- 
really the dividing line between the con- 
tending armies of the North and .South. 
I hese plans and surveys were carried by him 
in person and alone, and delivered to the 
commanding general of the Union army a few 
! before the battle of Gettysburg. Upon 
Ids return he was safely escorted ! id to 

a point beyond the contending armies. 



He was elected Probate Judge in 1804, 

died in office in 1896, having ably filled the 
tion for many years. He represented the 
town of Salem in the legislature in 1877, 
serving on the Committee "t Finance with the 
late Hon. David Gallup, "I Plainheld, Conn. 
He was Selectman of Salem for eleven \ 
and chairman of the board nine y that 

time. He also served the town as School 
Visitor and in other minor offices. He was a 
Master Mason, becoming a member in New 
London in 1853 ,.i Union Lodge, No. 31. In 
politics he was a Democrat. He joined the 
Congregational church in 1876, and was an 
active worker in early life. 

Mr. Gallup married January 22. 1855, Lucy 
A. Rathbun, who died March 30, 1893, in the 
sixty-second year of her age. .Mr. Gallup was 
a man of more than ordinary intellectual abil- 
ity, taking an unusual interest in biographical 
and genealogical work, in which he had no 
equal in the county. He was large-hearted 
and generous, and never amassed great wealth. 
He left his fine farm and home to Mrs. Doug- 
las, who so kindly ca him in his 
illness. 

RAYMOND DOUGLASS, a promi- 
nent farmer of Salem vill born 
in the adjacent town ol M 
New London Count)', on September 3, 1 
son of John and Ann Elizabeth (Raym 

lis- He is descended from William 
Douglass, a Scotchman, born in 1610, who 
1m this country in [640, bringing his 
son Robert, then a yi mil in if>6o 

tied in New London. Since that time the 
Douglass family have been among the influen- 
tial and respected inhabitants of this region. 
Both lather and sen 

The former,. who was a Deacon of the Presby- 
terian church ami an earnest Christian, died 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVI K\V 



on fuly 2, 1682. Robert Douglass died on 
the 15th of January, 1715 or 17 16. 

Among his posterity may be found many 
whose names help to swell the roll-call of 
soldiers who fought in the Revolution and in 
the early Indian wars. From Robert the 
line continues as follows: his son Thomas 
was born May 15, 1679, and died on March 3, 
1723-4; Robert, second, son of Thomas, was 
born December 28, 1705, and died in Octo- 
ber, 1786; and his son, Thomas, second, was 
born August 1, 1734, and died in 1826. 
A third Robert, son of the second Thomas 
and the grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, was born on January 18, 1774, prob- 
ably in New London; but his working life was 
spent chiefly in Waterford, where he was en- 
ed in farming on the estate now owned by 
Mrs. Stanley Morgan. He died October 8, 
1834. His wife, Abiah Douglass, who was born 
on May 25, 1775, survived him for manyyears, 
and died on the 30th of June, 1S51. She 
was the mother of three daughters and five sons. 

John Douglass, one of the five, was born in 
Waterford, then a part of New London, on 
February 23, 181 1, and died in that town on 
March 27, 1866. His wife, Anna Elizabeth, 
the daughter of Josiah Raymond, of Mont- 
ville, was born in Salem in 1817. They were 
married on December 3, 1838, and reared a 
family of lour children — John Raymond, 
George R., Robert Henry, and Elizabeth H. 
;e Ransom Douglass died on February 6, 
1865, at the age of seventeen; Robert Henry 
Douglass is engaged in the fruit-growing in- 
dustry in North Pomona, Cal. ; and Elizabeth 
Douglass since 1896 has been in Pasadena, 
Cal., with her mother. 

John Raymond Douglass, the eldest son, 
was educated in the district schools and in the 
Norwich and Norwich Town select schools. 
Politically, he is a strong Republican, ami in 



1885 and 1886 was in the legislature from 
Salem. He has been First Selectman of the 
town several terms. On December 24, 1864, 
he was united in marriage with Julia Ray- 
mond, daughter of Richard and Julia (Gard- 
ner) Raymond, of Montville. Mr. Richard 
Raymond died on November 30, 1S78, at 
Montville, which had been the home of his 
family for many years. His wife survived 
until May 18, 1896, when she died at the old 
homestead. Of their family of nine children, 
four sons and three daughters grew to matu- 
rity, and all are living but one daughter. 

Mrs. Douglass has many rare souvenirs and 
heirlooms, among them being a fine old solid 
mahogany secretary and bureau combined, 
which is known to contain a secret drawer 
never yet discovered. It is of most beautiful 
workmanship, and proclaims the mechanics 
and wood workers of "ye olden days" fully as 
artistic and skilful as those of our own times. 
A generous-sized painted punch bowl or tank- 
ard of glass was formerly the property of Mrs. 
Douglass's great-great-grandfather, and a 
beautiful alabaster jewel case was left by Mrs. 
Sigourney. There is also a china mug over 
two hundred years old, and Commodore 
Perry's flint-lock derringer with the accoutre- 
ments, including moulds and combination 
flask for powder and balls. Very interesting 
are two fans, one of which, bearing the date 
of 1747, belonged to Mrs. Douglass's great- 
great-grandmother, Elizabeth Griswold. The 
other is of ivory, and bears the record of the 
marriage, on May 26, 1774, of Mercy Ray- 
mond and John Raymond. Other relics are: 
a piece of sage green brocaded silk, which was 
part of Elizabeth Griswold's wedding dress; 
a rare copy of the Bible, dated 1738, and 
handed down from the fourth generation back; 
and an exposition and notes on Thessalonians, 
bound in full vellum, and dated 1627. 



r.HH'.k M'llic \l. REVIEW 



■°3 



'OSEPH STANTON WILLIAMS, a 
well-known citizen of Stonington, son 
ni the late Joseph Stanton Williams, 
Sr., and grandson of Captain Elias and Thank- 
ful (Stanton) Williams, owns and occupii 

the old Stanton farm, near Mystic, on 

which he was born. This farm, originally of 

t two hundred and twenty acres, was the 

birthplace of his father and of his paternal 

dmother. It was granted by a deed of gift 

lomas Stanton, the noted Indian interpre- 

I homas and Nathaniel Beebe, January 

the ^\i-cA stating that there were two 

hund ■ :s, more or less, and eight acres 

of meadow. (See sketch of Elias Williams.) 

Mr. Williams is of English ancestry, being 

a lineal descendant in the ninth generation of 

it Williams, who was born in Norwich, 

in 1593, and died in Roxbury, 

1638. Robert's son Isaac lived 

lied in Roxbury, where his son John, the 

in line of descent, was horn. John 

iams married Martha, daughter of Isaac 

eler, and removed to Stonington, wh 

n his son, Colonel John Williams. 

The line was continued through the Colonel's 

William Williams, who was horn in the 

. May 1, [716, and died July 27, 

■ ; and his son, Captain John Williams, 

horn December 23, 1744, to the grandfather 

e named, Elias Williams, who was born 

in what is now North Stonington, September 

I773i son of Captain John Williams, and 

I inuary 31, 1808. 

Mr. Williams is also the representative of 

incient and respected family of this 

1, Thankful Stanton, the wife of his 

idfather, Elias Williams, having been a 

daug William and Hannah (Williams.) 

Stanton, a grand-daughter oi Joseph and Ann 

(Wheeler) Stanton, and a great-grand-daugh- 

ter of Joseph, Sr., and Margaret (ChcseL 



Stanton. Joseph Stanton, Si'., was a soi 
John and Hannah (Thompson) Stanto 
grandson of Thomas, the first of the name to 
come to America. Thomas Stanton sailed 
from England, January 2, [635, in the mer- 
chantman " Bonaventura, " landing in Vir- 
ginia, where he remained for a time. He 
subsequently went to Boston, thence to Hart- 
ford, this State, and there married Ann Lord. 
In 1650 he established a trading post in l'aw- 
catuck, Stonington, being one of the first set- 
tlers here, the others at that time being the 
Cheseboros, Miners, Palmers, and Denisons; 
and six years later he received the deed above 
mentioned. 

Joseph S. Williams. Sr., was born on this 
farm, March 16, 1N02, being one of a family 
of four children, two sons and two daughters, 
who were left fatherless at an early age. He 
was reared a farmer, and followed that occupa- 
tion continuously, living on the hum. stead 
until his death, which occurred Lehman 

A man of fine physique, noted for his 
strength, standing six feet in height and 
weighing two hundred and ten pounds, he was 
as forceful mentally and morally as physically, 
and wielded great influence in the commu- 
nity. He was a member of the Old Ro 
erregational Church and one of it- live 

workers. He married on Decei 824, 

Julia A. Gallup, daughter of Christopher and 
Mrs. Martha Stanton I'rent i lup, and 

by this union was the father of eight children 
— Joseph S., William S., Elias, Julia A.. Jo- 
Stanton, Charles, Warren, and Martha 
Ellen. Mrs. Williams, the mother, v. 
dentally kill runaway In 19* 

1883, at the > enty-six ye »eph 

S.. lb 1. who died at the age of 

eighl month-. 'hat 

his name be given to the subject of this 
sketch, who was then a babe of three or four 



io4 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



weeks, and, when told that they already had 
one Joseph S., he replied, "You will not have 
long." William S., the second child, died at 
the age of twenty-nine, leaving one daughter, 
Mrs. Henry Morgan, of Colchester. Elias, of 
whom a brief sketch may be found elsewhere 
in this volume, lives on a portion of the old 
homestead farm. Julia A. is the wife of 
Salmon C. Foote, who also occupies a part of 
the home farm. Charles died here at the age 
of twenty-eight years, leaving a widow, two 
sons, and a daughter. Warren died on the 
farm in 1865, aged twenty-five years. Martha 
Ellen died in childhood. The three brothers 
that died after reaching mature years were the 
victims of typhoid fever. 

Joseph S. Williams was born on August 12, 
1S34. He was reared to agricultural pur- 
suits, and with the exception of two years 
passed in Yates County, New York, and six 
months in New Jersey, has spent his life on 
his native heath. He has a farm of eighty 
acres, most of it in a good state of culture, 
and carries on general agriculture with excel- 
lent success. His house, which is in good 
repair, is at least one hundred and twenty-five 
years old. It was erected by Nathan Stanton, 
a brother of Captain William Stanton, who 
lived herefrom 1777 until 1793, when he re- 
moved to Florida, Montgomery County, N.Y., 
where his descendants still reside. Mr. Will- 
iams is a stanch Democrat in politics and an 
ardent worker in the temperance cause. He 
lias rendered his full share of public service, 
having been Postmaster when a young man 
and again under Cleveland's administration; 
Selectman four years; and one term Repre- 
sentative to the State legislature, to which he 
was elected in 1876. He is not a member of 
any church, but was reared a Congregational- 
ist, and was christened in a church of that 
denomination. 



On January 13, 1858, Mr. Williams mar- 
ried Elizabeth C. Foote, a native of New 
Marlboro, Berkshire County, Mass., and the 
tenth child of a family of eight sons and five 
daughters born to Salmon and Margaret (Tay- 
lor) Foote. Mrs. Williams's father died at 
the age of ninety years in 1882, and her 
mother in 1857, aged sixty-three years. 



OHN A. BOWEN, Chief of Police in 
Norwich, was born May 25, 1843, at 
Voluntown, in what was then Wind- 
ham County, now New London County, Con- 
necticut. His parents were Philip A. and 
Charlotte C. (Gardner) Bowen. The history 
of the family has been traced back to Cadivor, 
who, about the twelfth century (1133), was of 
the fourth generation in Wales. He had two 
sons, we are told, Myrick and Griffith, 
from the former of whom this particular 
branch of the family is descended. 

Griffith Bowen came to America in 1638; 
and Richard Bowen, the progenitor of this 
branch, said to have been a brother of Griffith, 
came about 1640, settling in Rehoboth, 
Mass., where in 1643 his estate was valued at 
two hundred and seventy pounds. From him 
the lineal representatives are, named in their 
order: Obadiah, first; Obadiah, second; 
Aaron; Asaph; Philip; Aaron; Philip A.; 
and John A., of Norwich. 

Asaph Bowen was a mariner, and died at 
sea in 1748. Philip, his only son, had eight 
sons and two daughters that-reached adult life. 
The eldest was Asaph, second; and the sec- 
ond was Aaron, who resided in Washington, 
R.I., where he owned nearly all of Bowen 
Hill, so named for his grandfather, Asaph 
Bowen. Aaron Bowen married Hannah Mer- 
rill, of Rhode Island. They had eight chil- 
dren, three sons and five daughters, of whom 




JOHN A. BOWEN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKYIKYV 



107 



the sons and four daughters grew to manhood 
womanhood. One daughter, Sally A., the 
widow of Albert Randall, an octogenarian, 
recently of Greenwich, R.I., is now deceased. 
Philip A., the youngest child, was born in 
Rhode Island about the year 18 19. lie was a 
stationary engineer, and during the latter 
years of his life he owned and kept a hotel in 
Franklin. He died there in 1873, survived 
is wile, Mrs. Charlotte C. Gardner Bowen, 
who died in 1880, aged fifty-seven years. 
Two of their five children are now living in 
Norwich, namely: Lucy, the widow of Henry 
A. Bowen, who died in 1 89 1 ; and John A., 
Chief of Police. James T. , his twin brother, 
died when sixteen months old; a brother 
died at three years; and Henry, at 
four years of age. The family burial lot is in 
Yantic cemetery. 

[ohn A. Bowen was kept in school until his 
iteenth year, when he volunteered in the 
Fifth Connecticut Infantry, Company G, and, 
1 the front as a private, served four 
oming out as a Sergeant. At Resaca, 
Ga., he was wounded in his right hand; and 
at Cedar Mountain, Va., August 9, 1862, he 
taken prisoner, but in November follow- 
a.is exchanged and returned to his regi- 
ment. Mr. Bowen became a member of the 
police force when it numbered but eleven, and 
from the lowest rank rose step by step 
through all the positions in the department, 
until in 1886 he became the Chief. This re- 
side position he continues to fill in a 
very creditable manner. 

In 1865 Mr. Bowen was married in Wood- 
Stock, Conn., to Eleanor Arnold, a daughter 
of Samuel and Esther Arnold, of Westerly, 
R.I. Her father died several years ago ; and 
her mother was left with six children, all now 
living, with the exception of Joseph and 
Rouse, who were killed on the railroad. Mr. 



and Mrs. Bowen have one child, Philip I . 
merchant in Webster, Mass. He is married, 
but has no children. 

Politically, Mr. Bowen is a Republican. 
Fraternally, he is a member of Somi 
Lodge, No. 34, F. & A. M., of which he is 
Marshal; Columbian Commandery, No. 4. 
K. T. ; and Sedgwick Post, No. 1. (',. A. R., 
in which he has served as Quartermaster, also 
as Assistant Inspector of the Department ot 
Connecticut. 



/TVUTAIN JAMES LENNEN, a citi- 
I jp zen of Waterford, Conn., was born in 

V«i£_^ Waterford, Ireland, in 1841. His 
parents, John and Mary Lennen, who sailed 
for America in 1844 with their four children, 
both died on the passage, and with one child 
were buried at sea. The father was a farmer 
in good circumstances, and hail with him, it is 
said, about six thousand dollars in gold, 
which with most of their goods were lost to 
their children. The three young orphans, two 
boys and a girl, were cared for by the dock- 
master and his friends. The Captain's 
brother William is now a farm gardener in 
Brooklyn, N.V.; and their sister is the wife 
of a Mr. ( ). Meyer in New York City. 

James was adopted by Captain Elnathan M. 
Wilcox, of New London County, .1 resident ot 
Mystic, and received a fair common-school ed- 
ucation. At the age of sixteen he began to 
spend his summer vacations upon the water, 
and at the age of nineteen he left school. lie 
continued to go on the water with Captain 
Wilcox till he attained his majority. His 
first independent venture was in the menhaden, 
or bony-fish, business in a company of five, 
their factory being at the Neck in Mystic. 
About the year [882 he established works at 
the Delaware Breakwater. He became cap- 



io8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



tain of his first craft at the age of twenty- 
three years. He was in the "Milo" two 
years, and in the "W. T. Sherman," the 
"John Green," and the steamer "Samuel S. 
Brown" about twelve years. For the past 
lour years he has lived on shore. 

Captain Lennen married in 1S79 Hannah 
Adams Stead, who was born at Edwardsburg, 
Cass County, Mich., daughter of Angel and 
Rhoda (Buddington) Stead. Her father and 
mother were both natives of Connecticut. 
After their marriage, in 1837, they went West, 
and spent three years at Edwardsburg. The 
fever and ague then sent them back to Nor- 
wich, where Mr. Stead died in October, 1895, 
in the eighty-seventh year of his age. He 
was a farmer. Mrs. Stead still survives, and 
is now about eighty -four years of age. Two 
of her three daughters are living, namely: 
Mrs. Lennen; and Mary E., wife of John 
Hibbard, of North Woodstock. Captain and 
Mrs. Lennen have no children. 

Mrs. Lennen is a member of the Central 
Baptist Church in Norwich. The Captain is 
a member of the Knights of Pythias, Wauregan 
Lodge, of Norwich. He is not active in pol- 
itics, but votes the Republican ticket. He 
owns a place in Norwich; and in the spring of 
1894 he bought the residence property at Har- 
rison Station, where his wife and her mother 
are most pleasantly situated, and where he is 
at home when business permits. Though he 
is not now leading a life of such extreme ac- 
tivity as formerly, his business interests have 
grown to such proportions that they require 
close supervision. The penniless orphan who 
was east a waif upon the waters has become a 
successful financier. He is still young and 
vigorous and a splendid type of his rugged 
and ruddy race over the sea. It is rather a 
singular coincidence that he was born in 
Waterford, Ireland, and has drifted after many- 



years to the town of the same name in the 
United States. 




RS. ELIZA PALMER NOYES, 
who resides on a small farm of 



thirty-eight acres at "The Road," 
in the town of Stonington, was born Oc- 
tober 18, 1844, daughter of Noyes Palmer 
and Martha Denison (Noyes) Brown. Mrs. 
Noyes's mother was her husband's double 
cousin. Her parents had two children besides 
herself, namely: Annie Brown, who has been 
twice married, her first husband being Asa 
Fish, and her second John I. MacDonald, 
with whom she resides in Providence, R.I.; 
and Helen, wife of Henry Townsend, of this 
town, living at the old home, in the house 
which her father erected fifty-one years ago. 

Eliza Palmer Brown and Edmund S. Noyes, 
son of Joseph and Grace B. (Denison) Noyes 
and grandson of Joseph Noyes, Sr., were 
married on February 5, 1867. They began 
their wedded life at the Road, a short distance 
from her present residence, in the old home of 
her grandfather, Thomas Noyes, who died in 
1874. This house, which they subsequently 
bought, was built in 1706, or nearly two cen- 
turies ago. It was once the home of Colonel 
Giles Russell, a Revolutionary officer, of 
whom Mrs. Noyes has an interesting relic, 
the copy of a public notice written and signed 
by him, bearing date of May 12, 1777. The 
Road received its name when there was only 
a bridle path, over which the mail was carried 
on horseback. This house, which was a 
stopping-place for travellers, was then called 
an "ordinary" and later an inn. For forty 
years the Town Clerk's office was here, and 
the present kitchen in the L of the house was 
the room in which the business was conducted 
by John D. Noyes, who served as Clerk for 




THOMAS A. SCOTT. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



forty-one years. He died in office, just two 
days before his successor was elected. For a 
long time he had been in feeble health on ac- 
count ill" his age, he being then over eighty. 
Mr. Edmund S. Noyes died May 31, 1877, 
forty-one years. Having spent his life 
in industrious toil, he had acquired a fair 
property; and he left to Mis. Noyes and their 
little sun Joseph, then five years old, the 
homestead which they occupy and another 
farm. Mrs. Noyes is a capable business 
woman; and, though her son's health would 
not permit of an extended schooling, as a re- 
sult of her early instruction he has become a 
man ol good business capacity. Joseph Noyes 
lives with his mother, never having married, 
and now has charge of their property. Mrs. 
Noyes belongs to the First Congregational 
Church of Stonington, Conn. 



ZTlAPTAIN THOMAS A. SCOTT, a 
I _ famous diver, wrecker, and contractor 

^<1__^-- of Xew London, Conn., was born at 
Snow Hill, Worcester County, Md., August 

1830, son of William and Elizabeth 
(1'ruett) Scott. James Scott, his paternal 

Ifather, also a native of Snow Hill, was a 
farmer, stock-breeder, and salt manufacturer, 
and acquired a large property. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Rebecca Burch, died 
at the age of ninety ; while he attained the age 
ne hundred years. They had two sons and 
two daughters. 

William Scott, the father of Captain Scott, 

horn at Snow Hill in 1795. His fust 
wife was before marriage a Miss Pointer. The 
two children born of their union died young. 
Elizabeth Pruett, his second wife, whom he 
married in 1828, had previously been the wife 
ol Zachariah Shelley, who had died leaving 
one son, since deceased. Her parents were 



Zachariah and Susan Pruette, residents ol that 
region, both ol whom lived to be ninety years 
of age. William and Elizabeth (Pruett) Scott 
had three children Sarah Truth, Ann Maria 
Hudson, and Thomas A., the subject of this 
biography. The daughters grew to maturity 
and were married, and both died leaving chil- 
dren. The mother died at the home of her 
son, March 2, 1 890, at the age of eighty-eight. 
Thomas A. Scott in his boyhood received a 
very limited education, as he shipped as a 
common sailor on board a merchant vessel in 
early life. He gradually worked his way up 
until in 1850 he became captain and part 
owner of the "Thomas Page." Seven years 
later he bought an interest in the "William 
Hone," of Connecticut, and engaged in the 
transportation of heavy cargoes ol stone from 
Bridgeport, Conn., to Washington. D.C., 
which proved to be a very successful enter- 
prise. After that he became a merchant in 
Fort Lee, N.J., but subsequently, deciding 
that he was then out of his element, he re- 
turned to maritime pursuits. He then began 
diving, a calling that he has followed more or 
less ever since. A steamer having I 
burned and sunk off Fort Lee, lie contracted 
with the speculator who bought the wreck, 
to bring the cargo to the surface. From that 
beginning he was drawn by degrees into the 
kind of work which has made him famous 
among his craft. His fust large contract as 
wrecker and diver was taken in [865, which 
wis to raise the "Dashing Wave" of) 
Hook. Four years thereafter he was engi ; 
at a salary of two hundred and titty dollars a 
month to bring to the surface what could 
saved ol the < argo 1 the steamship "S 
land," of the National Line, which was 
wrecked off Sandy Hook. The recovered 
eoods amounted to one hundred and ten thou- 
..in,! dollars, ol whi< h sum, ini biding his 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



salary and percentage of salvage, he realized 
eleven thousand dollars. Here he remained 
under water seven hours and forty-eight min- 
utes, breaking the records of divers' feats of 
endurance. Captain Scott's presence of mind, 
added to his quickness of thought and prompt, 
decisive action, make him admirably success- 
ful in his chosen line of work. 

In 1873 he became a resident of New Lon- 
don, at which time he undertook a government 
contract to build Race Rock Light-house, be- 
sides many other important contracts in wharf 
and sea-wall building, among which may be 
mentioned Pier No. 1, North River, New York. 
He also enjoys the distinction of being the 
first man to work on the Brooklyn Bridge, hav- 
ing made all the preliminary examinations of 
the river bottom and superintended the work of 
laying the foundations of the spans. His 
wharf on Pequot Avenue extends two hundred 
feet into the harbor, and has a frontage of two 
hundred and fifty feet. His extensive busi- 
ness requires three tugs, four lighters, a pile- 
driver, and mud digger, besides pumps and 
derricks, and a working force of forty men, his 
equipments being equal to any emergency. In 
politics Captain Scott is a Republican. He 
has served as Alderman one term. 

On September 5, 1855, he was married to 
Harriet Whitbeck, of Port Jefferson, L.I. 
She was born in Catskill, N.Y., being the 
daughter of John and Mary E. Ackerly. 
Isaac Ackerly, her grandfather, was a farmer; 
and her father was a paper-hanger and decora- 
tor. Mrs. Scott has one brother living — 
Theodore Whitbeck, who succeeds his father 
in business at Port Jefferson. Her brother 
Sidney S. Whitbeck died in April, 1896, at 
the age of fifty four. Her father died at the 
age of seventy-three, and her mother at the age 
of eighty thr< e 

Mr. and .Mrs. Scott have had twelve chil- 



dren, six of whom survive: John A., Mamie, 
Eva L. , Harriet F., Cassie V., and Thomas 
A., Jr. John A. Scott, born in 1859, is a 
merchant on his father's dock. He is married 
and has two daughters. Mamie Scott married 
William H. Hull, of New York. Eva L. 
married Woodruff Hull, a brother of her sis- 
ter's husband, and has one son and daughter. 
Harriet F. is at home. Cassie V. was gradu- 
ated from the high school, and then studied 
designing in New York. She married Joseph 
Hardwick, and now resides in Shelby, Ohio. 
Thomas A., Jr., a young man at home, was 
graduated from Mystic Academy. Another 
son, Willie A., born April 18, 1858, was 
lost in the Sound in 18S0, while wrecking, 
falling overboard from the "Narragansett. " 

Captain Scott has a beautiful residence at 
88 Pequot Avenue, surrounded by well laid 
out and well-kept grounds, which commands a 
fine view of the harbor and Fort Trumbull. 
He also owns White Rock Island, which is 
valuable for its large quantity of excellent 
stone. Personally, Captain Scott is a man 
of large physique, weighing three hundred 
pounds. He is held in high regard, his portly 
frame being .typical of a generous heart and 
soul within. 




TTO LAWSON, a well-known farmer 
and dairyman of Waterford, Conn., 
residing on his farm, about three miles 
north of New London, was born in Sweden, 
January 7, 1845. -At the age of sixteen years 
he shipped before the mast on board the Swed- 
ish bark "Hilda," bound for New York City, 
via Cadiz, Spain. This was the beginning 
of a career as seaman that lasted for some 
years. During the course of his voyages he 
visited numerous ports and many countries. 
Upon arriving at New York, he shipped on 



BIOGRAPHICAL REV I FAY 






the American schooner "Stephen S. Leo," of 
Philadelphia, Pa., in which he sailed for 
Dearly a year. In 1864 he was in Buenos 

Ayres, and from there returned to New York 
(its', lie next went to Stockholm, Sweden, 
then i" Northern Sweden lor a cargo of lum- 
ber lor Cadi/, Spain, and after going to 
Malaga, Montevideo, I.a Plata River, and 
other South American points, went hack to 
York City, where he shipped in the 
"Hilda" for Honduras. On this voyage a 
Dumber of the men were taken sick and died 
lenly, and great consternation was excited. 
His own feelings at that time, and the panic 
that spread among the new, Mr. Lawson will 
never forget. At the age of twenty-three he 
-iid mate of the "William A. Vail," 
• >■«' Haven, Conn.: and in less than two 
months he was promoted to he first mate. He 
remained in this vessel for three years: and 
1 losing her he sailed in the "William 
C. H.." of Noank, for eight years, five years 
with that noble man, Captain Daniel Chester, 
three years with his brother, Captain 
les Ira Chester. 
In i.s-s Mr. Lawson bought twenty-two 
land and two houses, and settled down 
to farming. Since that time he has made ad- 
ditions to his property; and he now has forty- 
ai res, reaching down to the river. 
When he first bought the land, it would barely 
1 a cow and a horse. He now has four 
horses and sixteen cows, and sells milk to eus- 
rs in New London. He carries on con- 
rable market gardening, and employs two 
men to help in the farm labor. In politics 
Mr. Lawson is a Democrat. He has served 
six years on the Board of Relief. 1 te 
member of one oi the Baptist Church 
Committees, and both he and his wife are 
members ami active workers in the church. 
In \\w London Mr. Lawson first met 



Marlha Cone, daughter of Oliver and Louisa 
(Knight) Cone; and there he married her on 
February 12, 1872, the ceremony being per- 
formed by the Rev. Ezra Withey, of New 
London. Mr. and Mis Lawson have lost a 
daughter, Lizzie May, born July 5, 1883, who 
died at the age of six and one-half years, and 
a son Nelson, born November 28, 1N72, who 
died at the age of sixteen months. They have 
three living children: Alice, born April 14, 
1877; Jennie Louisa, born October 22. 1880; 
and Ruth, born January 2, 1S94. Alice Law- 
son is now the wife of F. J. Alexander, who 
conducts a general store at Quaker Hill, 
Conn. 



irAANIEL N. HOBRON, a rel 

——J merchant of New London, Conn., 
<~KLs at present (winter of 1897 
residing in Washington, D.C., was born on 
Hempstead Street, in New London, on < 
ber 2, 1826, being the son of Russell and 
Martha (Howard) Hobron. His grandfatl 
George Hobron, married Elizabeth Mason, 
and had eleven children, ten of whom grew 
up: namely, William, Thomas, Samuel, 
Charles, George, Russell, Edward, Harriet, 
Mary, and Dempster. Russell, Mr. Hobron's 
father, was born in New London on Fort 
Street, now Shaw Street, in 1S03. For some 
fifty years of his mature life he was a meat 
dealer on the corner of Green and Banke 
Streets. He married in 1S23 Martha, daugh- 
ter of Captain John Howard, ol the same- 
place. Her father commanded a vessel, and 
carried passengers and freight between New 
York and the West Indies for many years. 
He was in the War of 1N12. He died at the 
advanced age of ninety-two at his home on 
Howard Street, which was named lor him. 
A remarkable and interesting fact here claims 



"4 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



our attention; namely, that three sisters be- 
came the wives of three brothers, Martha, 
Mary, and Nancy Howard marrying respec- 
tively Russell, George, and Edward Hobron. 

Russell Hobron and his wife Martha had 
eleven children, eight sons and three daugh- 
ters, only three of whom are now living: 
Daniel; and his brother Washington, of New 
York City, engaged in the fish trade; and 
Mrs. Mary E., widow of James Pierpont 
Davis, M.D., of Providence. Mrs. Davis has 
one daughter, who is married to Captain 
Henry L. Starr, and has one child. Mr. 
Russell Hobron died at the ripe age of eighty- 
five, and his wife in 1S66, at the age of sixty- 
three. 

Daniel Hobron in his boyhood attended 
the district school in his native place, his last 
school days being spent in a little frame 
building now used as a shoe shop, a beloved 
landmark, concerning which there is a feeling 
prevalent that it should be preserved as a 
relic, and removed from Banke Street to the 
ample grounds of the new school-house. 
When fourteen years of age he went into a hat 
store, where he worked two summers, going 
to school in the winter. He then entered the 
employ of Whiteman & Turner, grocers, still 
keeping up his schooling. Next he worked 
for six months for Eben E. Dart on Banke 
Street. The winter following he was clerk 
fin- A. R. Harris. Then he was with Congden 
& Latham a while; and in February, 1846, he 
went into his father's meat market as clerk, 
eventually succeeding him in the business on 
the corner of State and Green Streets. After 
a time he sold out to Samuel Stewart: and four 
years ago the business passed into the hands 
of Thomas & Gumble, the latter member of 
this firm being Mr. Hobron's son-in-law. 

In 1S58 Mr. Hobron married Mary Isabella 
Pitcher, who died December 11, [863, leaving 



one living child, a daughter Ruth. This 
daughter married a Mr. Phillips, and resides 
in Sagamore, Mass. She has three children. 
In November, 1871, Mr. Hobron married 
Ellen Elizabeth Saunders, of New London, 
the daughter of the venerable Matthew S. 
Saunders. She died April 17, 1889. By 
this marriage there were two children — 
Mabel and Nina. Mabel is the wife of Frank 
W. Gumble, of the above-mentioned firm, 
and the mother of one child, an interesting 
boy, five years old, named Wolcott for Mr. 
Hobron's brother, who was killed in the Civil 
War. Nina, a most promising girl of twelve, 
died six months after her mother's death. 

That Mr. Hobron has had some varied ex- 
periences in life may be shown by the fact 
that within three years he had in his family 
three births, two marriages, and two deaths. 
He is now living in Washington, D.C. He 
built a block in 1877. He is still hale and 
hearty, and enjoys a life of ease but not idle- 
ness, his time being well occupied. His fine 
health and vigor have been secured to him by 
his correct habits of living. His tastes and 
character are refined and cultured, and he 
evinces much skill in an accomplishment 
rarely cultivated by one of his sex — namely, 
embroidery. His friends have many a sou- 
venir of his art. Mr. Hobron is independent 
in matters of religious belief, being bound to 
no creed or church. It is noteworthy that he 
never drank a glass of liquor in his life, never 
was so sick as to have to call in a doctor, and 
he never shot a gun of any kind. 



LIAS B. HINCKLEY, Judge of Pro- 
bate, Town Clerk and Town Treasurer 
in Stonington, was born here, Feb- 
ruary 19, 1852, son of Henry Hinckley. He 
is of English extraction, the emigrant ances- 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIKW 



tor having been Samuel Hinckley, who came 
from Tenterden, County Kent, England, to 
on in 1634. sailing in the good ship 
" Hercules," commanded by Captain Witherly. 
A fellow-passenger in the "Hercules" was 
aniel Tilden, from whom Samuel J. Til- 
den, of national tame, was descended. In 
5 Samuel Hinckley settled in Scituate, 
Mass., where two years later he was made a 
man. In 1640 he removed to Barnstable, 
. where he died October 31, 1662, leav- 
three sons and some daughters. Thomas, 
son, became Governor of Plymouth 
my. John, another son, was the next pro- 
tor of the branch of the family to which 
Elias B. Hinckley belongs. John Hinckley's 
Samuel, born in Barnstable, February 2, 
settled in Stonington, being the first of 
the family to come lure. A son of this Sam- 
named Samuel, born in Stonington, 
h 4, 1706, had a son, Abel, who, born 
il 10, 1743, spent his life here, and died 
March 20, 18 is. 

tmuel Hobart Hinckley, son of Abel and 
the grandfather of Elias H. , was born in Ston- 
■II. December 26, 1 772, and died here, 
ember [9, iSf>2, being almost ninety 
s old. He was a farmer by occupation 
fairly successful in his operations. His 
first marriage was contracted with Abigail 
Helms, of this town, who bore him seven 
children: namely. Samuel. Abby. Abel. Elias 
1!., B. Frank, Henry, and Mary Esther. 
Samuel lived but a year; Abby, who became 
'be wife • D. Cross, reared seven 

-and five daughters; Mary Esther is the 
whlow of Charles M. Davis, late of Stoning- 
ton; Elias and Mary are the only survivors 
now. After the death of his first wife, which 
urred while she was yet in the prime of 
womanhood, the father married Mrs. Nancy 1'. 
ipman, who proved herseli a true 



ther to her step-children, and was dearly 

beloved by her grandchildi 

Henry Hinckley, who was bom in this 
town. July 15. 1809, is still living on his 
farm at Wequetquock, near where the 
part of his long and useful life has 
passed. He bears bis burden oi years with 
ease and dignity, bein tive in mind 

body as most men a score of years youn 
( >n December 12. 1838, he married 1 
Mary Chesebro, a daughtei of Thomas R. and 
Mercy Chesebro, and a descendant of William 
Chesebrough (or Chesebro), who was born in 
England in 1594. and was the first white set- 
tler in Stonington, Conn. After a happy 
wedded life of fifty-eighl years sin- passed to 
another life on September 9, 1896, at the 
of seventy-nine years and six months. She 
reared seven children, namely: Mary, who 
was the wife of Charles E. Chace, of Mystic, 
and died March 24. 1881, leaving one daugh- 
ter; Abbie H., who married Charles II. 
Babcock, then the Superintendent of Schi 
in Westerly, R.I., and a member of the Ston- 
ington School Board of Visitors, and died 
March 14, 1883, aged forty-two years, leaving 
two daughters and a son; Thomas II.. ol 
Springfield, Mass.; Eliza C, who is 
widow of the late Willi on 11. Palmer, of this 
town, and I1.1 in, Bert I'alm 

unmarried, who lives on 1: irm ; 

Elias B., the subject of this sketch; 
I mil I I laveli. 

Elias B. Hinckley was ult- 

ural pursuits on the obi homestead on Hinck- 
ley Hill. I Ic had acqu : i'"> 
in his district, when mi account of ill health 
he was obliged to 10I at tie 
seventeen years. He subsequently worked in 
a market lor bis brother about foil 
Krom [876 to 1 . in company with Calvin 
Wheeler, he was in the meat and 



n6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



vision business. Then he was a book-keeper 
for four years, in the employment of Nathan 
H. Gates, a leading contractor of Stonington. 
This position he resigned in 1882 to become 
clerk in the auditor's office of the Stonington 
& Providence Railroad Company. On Au- 
gust 9, 1886, he was appointed Postmaster by 
President Cleveland; and he held the office 
until February 1, 1891. In the fall of 1890 
he was elected Town Clerk. A year later he 
was chosen Town Treasurer, which respon- 
sible position he has since filled most accept- 
ably. In 1892 he was elected Probate Judge, 
after an exciting contest, by a majority of 
three. The outcome was doubted by the for- 
mer incumbent, a Democrat nominated by the 
Republicans, who was the defeated candidate, 
and who fruitlessly carried it to the Superior 
Court. In 1S94 Mr. Hinckley was re-elected 
by a majority of thirty-seven, defeating the 
regular Republican nominee. In 1896 he was 
again re-elected, receiving two hundred and 
fifty-eight more votes than his opponent, 
whom he had beaten in the previous election. 
He has discharged the duties of his office with 
ability and fidelity. While the Democrats 
find in him one of their most active workers, 
Stonington claims him as one of her most 
loyal and faithful citizens. 

Mr. Hinckley has been twice married. On 
October 23, iS/fi, Miss Fannie Clift, a 
daughter of Horace and Frances (Burrows) 
Clift. of Mystic River, became his wife. She 
died August 2.S, 1885, aged twenty-nine 
years, leaving two children, namely: Eleanor, 
who is now in school; and Hobart, who died 
at the age oi eight years. On December 20, 
. Mr. Hinckley married Grace M. Levey, 
a daughter of Antoine Levey, of this borough. 
She has given birth to one child, a beautiful 
little girl, Thelma, now three years of age. 
Mr. Hinckley is an active member of the 



Royal Arcanum, Pequot Council, of which he 
has been secretary for thirteen years. 



Eft'OHN TURNER ALLYN, whose last 
years were spent in New London as an 
agriculturist, followed the sea in his 
younger days until obliged to give up that oc- 
cupation on account of poor health. Born in 
New London, March 10, 1838, he was the 
only son of Captain Lyman and Emma 
(Turner) Allyn, who also had five daughters, 
one of whom is Mrs. Harriet U. Allyn, widow 
of James Allyn. He was educated at Cheshire 
Episcopal Academy and at Monson Academy 
in Monson, Mass. Mr. Allyn was a Master 
Mason, a member of Union Lodge, F. & 
A. M., of New London. He died February 
23, 1887, before completing his forty-ninth 
year. 

Mr. John Turner Allyn and Miss Lucretia 
L. Brown were united in marriage on January 
30, 1873, and were the parents of one child, 
Mary Seymour Allyn, who was born February 
25, 1874, and died October 6, the same year, 
aged seven months and eleven days. Mrs. 
Allyn is the youngest daughter of the late 
Nathan S. and Sarah F. (Browning) Brown, 
and a grand-daughter of Daniel and Delight 
(Strickland) Brown, of Waterford, Conn. 
She now resides with her husband's sister, 
Mrs. Harriet U. Allyn, above mentioned. 

Nathan S. Brown was a farmer of Water- 
ford and a very prominent citizen of that 
town. He was active in town affairs, and 
held many of the important offices, being 
Justice of the Peace when a very young man, 
and subsequently Assessor and Selectman. 
He was born in Waterford on March 1, 1S11, 
and was married on September 9, 1835. His 
wife, Sarah, who was born April 27, 1S17, 
was a daughter of Rouse and Ruth (Morey) 




JOHN T. ALLYN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEW 



. .., 



Browning. Mr. Browning was the owner of 
the fine old Browning Beach farm, which is 
now owned by Ezra J. Hempstead. He was 
of the M.\th generation from Nathaniel Brown- 
who came from England, and settled in 
South Kingston, R.I. Nathaniel's great- 
grandson Ephraim, who was born in 1746 and 
died in 1826, was the great-grandfather of 
Mrs. Allyn. He removed from Rhode Island 
to Waterford, and bought a large tract of land, 
which was added to by his sun Rouse, ami 
which now forms a part of the Browning farm. 
His wile, whose maiden name was Susanna 
Davis, died in [832, at a very advanced age. 
Browning was a very prosperous farmer, 
lie was a Baptist in religious faith, very ac- 
tive in the denomination and very benevo- 
lent. The land upon which the Quaker Hill 
Church is built was given by him. His wife, 
Ruth, who was a native of Stonington, Conn., 
the mother of ten children, four sons and 
laughters, of whom Sarah, Mrs. Brown, 
the eldest. Nathan S. and Sarah F. 
Brown had a family of three sons ami three 
jhters, all of whom are living except Na- 
than, the eldest son, who died in i860, at the 
of twenty years. The survivors are: 
Delia S. Brown, the eldest daughter; Hliza- 
beth C. ; and Mrs. Allyn — all residing in 
Nev\ London; Orlando II. Brown, who is in 
business in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Charles J. 
Brown, in this city, a well-known business 
man, who has a family of six sons and a 
hter. 



'OSEPH EDWARD LEONARD was 

long period a prominent business 

man of the town of Griswold. his home 

1 > at ci part of his life being about four 

miles from Jewett City, on the Leonard farm, 

which, when it was sold m April. 1897, 



had been in the family nearly two hundred 
years. Mr. Leonard was born September 
6, 1838, and died October 2 . at the 

age of fifty-eight years. 

His father. Deacon Joseph Leonard, was 
born in 1802, and died at the homestead in 
1887. Deacon Leonard married Laura John- 
son, of Jewett City, and was the lather of 
eight children. Of this family two sons and 
two daughters are now living, namely: 
(ieorge, in Wisconsin; Mrs. Maria French, a 
widow, residing in Appleton, Wis.: Mrs. 
Sarah Geer, in Griswold; and Howard, in 
Jewett City. 

Mr. Joseph E. Leonard carried on 
business in flour, grain, and feed for sixteen 
years, handling also farming implements and 
machinery, and was connected with a fire in- 
surance company. In these various lin< 
business he was successful, bringing to bear 
in each the sound judgment and keen insight 
into affairs that were his native gifts. He ac- 
cumulated a handsome property, which was 
bequeathed to his family. The fine grain ele- 
vator now in use was erected soon after he 
began business. Mr. Leonard was active also 
as a citi/en. and was deeply interested in all 
local affairs. He was a Republican in poli- 
tics, and represented his town in the S 
legislature. He was for many years a Jus 
of the Peace, and held that position up to the 
time of his death. Like his lather he u 
Deacon ol the Congregational church, and he 
was active in Sunday-school. 

He married March 5. [862, Martha E. 
Northup, who was born at Manchestei on Au- 
gust 24, 1836, dai oi the late l:< 1 ; . F. 
and Martha (Stillman) Northup. Her father 
was a clergyman of th< 1 ongregational church, 
and was settled for twenty-four years at Man- 
chester, Conn., and for seventeen year 
Griswold. He was a man of great learn 



120 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



and firmly grounded in the doctrines of his 
faith, being a graduate of Yale College and of 
Andover Theological Seminary. Of deep and 
fervent piety, lie was a preacher of persuasive 
eloquence, .mil became to the members of his 
congregation a safe counsellor and a tender 
shepherd. Naturally sympathetic and unsel- 
fish, he made the burdens of his people his 
own, ami was ever ready to aid the suffering 
or visit the distressed and afflicted. His first 
wife, Martha Stillman, above named, was a 
native of Wethersfield. She died in 1843, 
leaving six of the eight children born to her, 
all of whom are now deceased except Mrs. 
Leonard and an elder sister, Mrs. Fannie 
Prentice, widow of Nehemiah Prentice, resid- 
ing at Union Hall, N.J. The Rev. Mr. 
Northup died in [ 875, at the age of seventy- 
five years. His second wife, Elizabeth C. 
Pull, died at the age of eighty-four in 1S91 at 
Mrs. Leonard's home. 

Mrs. Leonard was educated in the schools 
of Norwich Town and Springfield. Inheriting 
scholarly aptitudes from her father, she has 
always been a reader of the best literature, 
and has been able to foster and cultivate a 
taste for the same in her children. She was 
bereft of an infant son some years ago, and 
has two children living: Fred Stillman 
Leonard; and a daughter, Bessie Northrop 
Leonard. Mr. Fred Leonard graduated from 
the New Britain schools, and subsequently 
taught si hool, being very successful, and 
finally receiving an appointment as assistant 
principal oi the Jewett City graded school. 
Since the death of his father Mr. Fred S. 
Leonard has succeeded to the business, and is 
now devoting himself to that. He is a young 
man of refined tastes, with musical ability, 
and ol high moral character. His sister, ,1 
luate of the New Britain Normal School, 
kindergarten department, has taught in New 



York and in Northampton, and has met with 
marked success. 

In the fall of 1S96 Mrs. Leonard left the 
farm, and moved into Jewett City, where she 
has rented a pleasant and commodious house. 



(7^1 OHN MORAN, a well-known and suc- 
cessful business man of New London, 
Conn., was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 
November, 1847, being the eldest son of John 
and Mary Jane (Devine) Moran. 

His father, John Moran, Sr., was a native 
of Ireland, born in County Waterford in 1S13. 
At nineteen years of age, in 1833, he came to 
Canada, and was one of the early settlers of 
Ottawa, where he followed tailoring for some 
years. He then removed to Fitzroy Harbor, 
and at that place he worked at farming in ad- 
dition to tailoring. Although possessed of 
but small means when he came to this coun- 
try, he amassed considerable property; and, 
being a man of much intellectual ability, he 
was elected to various public offices, includ- 
ing that of City Councilman. In 1844, at 
Fitzroy Harbor, he married Mary Jane De- 
vine, who came from Ireland in the "Belle 
Castle," the same year that he came, but was 
thirteen weeks on the voyage, four weeks 
longer than he. She came with her brother; 
and they spent the first year after their arri- 
val in Quebec, where she first met Mr. Moran. 
Four sons and two daughters were born to 
them, and all grew to maturity. They were 
named: John, Mary, James, Bridget, Mathias 
R., and Patrick. Mary Moran married Ed- 
ward Dooner, and died leaving an infant son. 
James Moran, who has never married, is en- 
gaged in the lumber trade in New London. 
Bridget, widow of John O'Brien, is living in 
New York City. Mathias R. Moran, who was 
a well-known railroad man and superintendent 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



of the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Rail- 
. Florida, died in New London in July. 
-. leaving a family. Patrick Moran is on 
the New London police force, lie has a wife 
and children. Mr. and Mrs. John Moran, 
removed from Canada to New Jersey, 
e they resided five years, and then came 
New London, and spent their declining 
- with their sen John. The father died 
in 1885, and the mother ten years later, in 
5, in her eighty-sixth year. Both were 
it Catholics, and they reared their chil- 
dren in that faith. 

Moran, the special subject of this 

h, left the common schools quite early, 

and became a clerk in the lumbermen's supply 

Brudenell, Canada, kept by his father, 

carried on a large farm. He contin- 

to live at home until his marriage. In 

Mr. Moran bought out the livery busi- 

is Dennison, which was established 

- ars ago, and at once tore down the 

old barns, and replaced them with a fine 1 

ling one hundred and twenty feet deep, 

feet wide, and two ami one-half stories 

in height. He employs seven men, and keeps 

thirty-five horses in all, nineteen of which are 

sown, the others being boarders. He car - 

on the largest livery business in New 

London. Since January 1, [889, Mr. Moran 

ISO been associated with Caulkins & 

l'i 'litis, supplying them with coaches and 

■1 s. 

Mr. Moran married first Miss Elizabeth C. 
Murphy, of Canada. She died in New Jersey 
in 1883, aged twenty-eight years, leaving four 
children, namely: Mary I'., now a young lady 
ighteen, who has just been graduated 1 101,1 
the Young Ladies' High School as the vale- 
dictorian of her class, in which there were 
twenty besides herself, and who is also an ac- 
complished pianist; E. Letitia, who is in the 



Meriden Convent; Helen Gertrude, an attend- 
ant of the Young Ladies' High School; and 
Elizabeth, who is also in school. In 1X85 Mr. 
Moran married Miss Alice Quinn, of < 
ada, a daughter of Patrick Quinn, on< 
seven Irishmen well known in the hist 1 

ula. who went into the woods on fool some 
six hundred miles from Montreal to Ramsey 
County, and began the opening up ol that pait 
of Canada, which now has attained a high de- 
gree of civilization. There are no children 
by Mr. Mo ran 's second marriage. 

The family reside at 9 Huntington St 1 
in the house that he built in [888. Politi- 
cally, Mr. Moran is .1 Democrat. He has 
served i it the City Council. 



f STeORGE ELDREDGE, a highly re- 
V p* 1 spected citizen of Mystic, residing 

in the house in which he 
September 2 2, [834, is a son oi Flam and 
Hannah (Fitch) Eldredge, and comes both of 
English and Irish ancestors. The Eldn 
family came to this country from England, 
ami settled in Massachusetts. 1 the 

father of Elam and son oi Thomas, man 
Hannah Burrows, who bore him eight - 
and a daughter; namely. Elam, Nathan, 
Charles, Delight, George, Thomas, Winthrop, 
Robert, and William, all of whom, with the 
exception of Winl hrop, « ho died mar- 

ried and had children. Several el the - 
were mariners, ami more than one lived to 
pass the age oi foursi ore. Their mother died 
in 1S47. aged eighty-two. and their father in 
1850, at the same age Daniel 1. 
brother of G© ; s >'-- was 

the wounded at the battle oi Fort Griswold. 

Elam Eldredge was al one time master 
coasting-vi ssel, making trips 
Florida. He subsequently engaged in the 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



fish business. He was twice married, his 
first wife being- in maidenhood Eunice Bur- 
rows, daughter of Elam Burrows, of Mystic, 
Conn. For his second wife he married Han- 
nah Fitch, who was born December 28, 1803, 
daughter of Chester and Deborah (Packer) 
Fitch, of Mystic. There were seven children 
by this union, four sons and three daughters, 
all of whom attained maturity. Those now 
living are: Hannah, wife of Henry Latham, 
of Mystic; George, whose name appears at the 
head of this sketch; Eunice B. , who resides 
with her brother; and Mary E. , who lives in 
this vicinity. The father died in 1870, aged 
seventy-seven, and the mother on May 27, 
[885, lacking just seven months of reaching 
her eighty-second year. George Eldredge re- 
ceived his education chiefly in the excellent 
district schools of his native town; and, hav- 
ing a taste for the higher mathematics, he 
subsequently devoted considerable time to 
that study. In 1854, at the age of twenty, he 
began learning the blacksmith's trade. For 
some years he was employed in a machine 
shop, and he was later engaged in the meat 
business for fifteen years. Since 1892 he has 
1 ived retired. 

On October 3, i860, Mr. Eldredge was 
joined in marriage with Susan Moody Kemp, 
of Mystic. She died in 1883, at the age of 
forty-seven, leaving no children. Mr. El- 
dredge is a stanch Democrat, and has served 
two terms in the Connecticut legislature, in 
1883 and 1889. 




KC\)f HEELER BROTHERS, blacksmiths 



in that part of North Stonington, 
Conn., known as Mill Town, are 
the proprietors of a long-established and pros- 
perous business, the firm consisting of J. O. 
Wheeler and his brother, Thomas W. 



Wheeler. Both these gentlemen were born 
in the village where they now live, the birth 
of J. O. Wheeler having occurred June 5, 
[818, and that of Thomas W., October 20, 
1822. Their grandfather, Lester Wheeler, 
was among the early farmers of this com- 
munity. He and his wife, Eunice Lewis 
Wheeler, reared a large family of sons and 
daughters, among them being Jesse Wheeler, 
father of Messrs. Wheeler, the subjects of this 
sketch. 

Jesse Wheeler was born in Stonington, May 
28, 1786, and was reared to man's estate on 
the home farm. A natural mechanic, he 
turned his talents to good use, learning the 
blacksmith's trade in his youth at Central 
Farm in Stonington. In 18 12 he settled at 
Mill Town, buying a smithy that had already 
been used for some years; and here he fol- 
lowed his chosen occupation until his death, 
January 16, 1852. On May 30, 181 1, he 
married Nancy Peckham, who was born in 
North Stonington, July 31, 1793, and died at 
Mill Town, March 9, 1885. They were the 
parents of four children; namely, Stephen 
H., Elisha P., J. O., and Thomas W. 
Stephen H. Wheeler, born March 6, 1812, 
was a blacksmith at Old Mystic, where he died 
when about seventy years of age, leaving a 
family, of whom but one daughter is now 
living. Elisha P. Wheeler, born December 
15, 1 81 5, for many years a machinist at Shan- 
nock, R.I., died there at the age of forty-two 
years, leaving a widow and three sons, of 
whom two are living, namely: Van Rensse- 
laer, a carriage smith in New London, Conn.; 
and Edward, who is a clerk and president of 
the Providence Horse Shoe Company in Prov- 
idence, R. I., and is a noted singer, more es- 
pecially of sacred music, his services being in 
demand in church and camp meetings. 

J. O. Wheeler learned the blacksmith's 




mi 



THOMAS W, WHEELER. 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIKW 






trade of his father, beginning when a very 
ig lad; and at the age of twelve years he 
was able to set shoes, a part of the business in 
which he became exceptionally skilful. Dur- 
the sixty-six years in which he was ac- 
tively employed, he shod many hundred 
horses and a great number of oxen, besides 
■ le miscellaneous work required in a 
country smithy. lie was in company with his 
father fur main' years, subsequently forming a 
lership with his brother, Thomas \V. In 
the old shop, built some eighty years 
re, was torn down, and the present one 
ted. These brothers have never swerved 
from the religious faith in which they were 
brought up, both being members of the Third 
Church, to which their parents also 
- !. They occupy the same residence, 
tttractive house; and on either side of 
I are several tenement houses which they 
the whole forming a pleasant little 
hamlet. 

Thomas W. Wheeler was married Novem- 

[844, to Emily E. Brown, of North 

lington, a daughter of Cyrus W. and 

Elizabeth (Babcock) Brown. Her parents 

reared a family of seven sons and three daugh- 

■ all of whom are living but one, unless 

William Brown, who went to Australia seme 

years ago, has since died. Mr. Brown 

a farmer, and carried on his occupation 

until his death, at the age of sixty-nine years. 

His widow survived him three years, dying at 

the same age. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have 

child, Nancy Mary, wife of ex-Judge 

William H. llillard, of this town. Mi. 

Wheeler is a man of literary tastes and 

talents, and fur some years has been an occa- 

ial correspondent for Western papers, 

writing under his own signature. lie is an 

active member <■! the Democratic party, and 

has served his fellow-townsmen in several 



official capacities. 1 le has been < lonstable, for 
eight years was Town Clerk, and lor three 
years was Probate Judge. In these positions, 
when he needed an assistant, he had ths 
vices of Mrs. Wheeler, who proved herself a 
most efficient helper, being a woman of more 
than ordinary intelligence and ability. 




LIS1IA POST, a contractor and builder 
of Pequot, New London, Conn., was 
born in Bozrah, July 11, 1853, son 
of John and Nam)' M. (Rogers) Post. 

The paternal grandfather, Elisha Post, a 
farmer of Bozrah. had a family of two suns and 
five daughters, of whom John was born on the 
old farm. December 17, 1825. John Post in 
early manhood followed the occupations ol 
mechanic, wheelwright, and shoemaker; but 
he later settled upon his father's large farm, 
of which he subsequently became the proprie- 
tor. In 1847 he married Nancy M 
Rogers, of Norwich, Conn., and they had 
seven children, five of whom grew to maturity, 
namely: Alfred R.. a painter and decorator of 
Beanhill; Elisha, whose name appears at the 
head of this sketch: John E., a farmer and 
dairyman of Norwich; Nancy M., wife of 
C. J. Wilson, of Natick, Mass. ; and Char- 
lotte R., wife of F. I.. Weaver at Beanhill. 
The mother died in [896, at the age of sixty- 
six. 

Elisha Post was reared on the old farm, and 
received his education in the district school. 
His leisure moments in early youth were few, 
as, when imt employed on the farm or in at- 
tending school, be found plenl upation 
in the simp and grist-mill. In 1877 he bit 
home to en in farming in Norwich, wl 
he remained some years. Coming to New 
London in the spring ol [888, for four ) 
he was occupied in teaming and jobbing. In 



I 26 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



■ he began taking contracts for stone 
work, grading, and concrete walks. He owns 
two quarries in this vicinity, employs regu- 
larly ten or twelve men and not unfrequently 

> or more. He has established a reputa- 
tion for reliable work, and has a large and 
growing business. In 1892 he bought a piece 
oi land, and erected thereon his present resi- 
lience. In politics he is a Republican. Feb- 
ruary 28, 1878, Mr. Post married Lilly A. 
Chapman, of Salem, an adopted daughter of 
William A. and Tabitha Chapman. Mrs. 
Post is a member of the Baptist church. 
Both she and her husband are much respected 
in New London, where they have many 
friends. 



STTTe 



HE NIANTIC MANUFACTURING 
COMPANY, a joint stock concern lo- 
cated in East Lyme, Conn., consists of 
three of the best known woollen manufacturers 
in the United States: David R. Campbell, 
president of the company; William Park, 
agent and treasurer of the mills; and Angus 
Park, secretary. 

William Park, first, the paternal grand- 
father of the Park brothers, was a Scotchman, 
and was engaged in lead mining in that coun- 
try throughout his life. He reared four sons 
and two daughters. The sons, named respec- 
tively James, John, Thomas, and William, are 
now living. All four became woollen manu- 
facturers, James pursuing this occupation in 
Australia, John and Thomas in their native 
town, Galashiels, Scotland. 

William, second, the youngest son, and the 
father of Messrs. William and Angus Park, of 
East Lyme, is also a woollen manufacturer, 
retired. lie was bom in Scotland in Oc- 
r, 1830. He married in 1852 in Gala- 
shiels, Scotland, Catherine Campbell, who 



was born in Elgin, Scotland, in 1836. Her 
father, Angus Campbell, who was a woollen 
spinner and a master at his trade, was a 
brother of David R. Campbell, the president 
of the Niantic Company. Mr. William Park, 
second, left Scotland with his family in the 
fall of 1872, arid settled in Sherbrooke, Can- 
ada, where he was engaged with his sons in 
the manufacture of woollen fabrics for twenty- 
one years. His children were ten in number. 
Six of them are now living; namely, Angus, 
William, James, George, Thomas, and 
Eunice. Angus and William are mentioned 
above; James and Thomas are employees of 
the Niantic Manufacturing Company; George 
is a designer of patterns in Pittsfield, Mass. ; 
Eunice is the wife of William T. Mountain, 
and resides in Sherbrooke, Canada, the home 
of her parents. 

William Park, the third of the name in di- 
rect line here recorded, began work at the age 
of twelve in the factory of the Paton Manu- 
facturing Company at Sherbrooke, Canada, the 
largest woollen manufacturers in this country. 
He was promoted in due course, and at the 
age of twenty-five became a designer. Five 
years later he was appointed superintendent of 
the mill, which contained thirty sets, and 
manufactured all kinds of wool fabrics, in- 
cluding fancy Pullman rugs, worsted suitings, 
overcoating, tweeds, etc. ; and in two years' 
time, upon the death of the former incum- 
bent, he was made manager of the concern. 
He continued in charge of the Paton mill 
until 1894, when he came to East Lyme as 
the treasurer of the Niantic Company. 

He was married in Sherbrooke in 1887 to 
Emma Whitcher, of that place, daughter of 
John and Jane (Crawford) Whitcher, both of 
Canada. Her grandfather, John Whitcher, 
was an Englishman, and was a purser in the 
royal navy of Great Britain. Mr. and Mrs. 



IIIOCR AI'IIICAL REVIEW 



'-7 



William Park, of East Lyme, have four chil- 
i ii iii' i ; and two sons, comprising 
esting family. Eunice, the eldest 
is nine >. ears of age; Mabel is seven ; 
five; .mil Raymond, three vears old. 
Mr. William Park is a member of the 
. !•'.. ami is connected with the Cana- 
Order ol Foresters. All the members of 
ire Presbyterians. 
Park, secretary of the Xiantic Manu- 
ring Company, began, as did his younger 
ther, at the very foundation of the busi- 
He was placed in a woollen-mill in 
cotland at the age of thirteen, and by his 
industry worked his way up to his present 
insible position. While still a resident 
ioke, he was married in 1S80 to 
I adie, of that place. Her father, 
1 Eadie, who was a manufacturer of 

U in Preston, England, came to 

ida in 1872, and is now a dry -goods mer- 
• of Sherbrooke. The children of Mr. 
Park arc: Margaret Alice, Catherine 
11, and William George. He is a 
of the Order of Foresters. 
David R. Campbell, the great -uncle of the 
brothers, is one of the oldest and most 
;' manufacturers in the United States, 
a life in New York at the lowest 
round of thi Deeming honest toil 

Ming and idleness a disgrace, he took ad- 
it the earliest opportunity for work 
whii 1 itself, and. though not reduced 

financial straits, was first employed as a 
I it few men have made a 
in life than has Mr. Camp- 
. the president of this company; and he 
rs with commendable pride to his youthful 
struggles in America. 

I his mill was originally started seventeen 

rs ago by A. P. Sturtevant, and was oper- 

on ladies' cloths. The mill property was 



purchased by these gentlemen in ix< , 1. 
many and expensive impro - have since 

been made, until it is now ranked among tin- 
best manufactories of the country. It is an 
eight-set mill, with forty looms and one hun- 
dred and ten hands. Cassimeres and cheviot 
goods for men's wear are manufactured exclu- 
sively, the company carrying a capital stock 
of seventy-five thousand dollars. Mr. Camp- 
bell and his nephews own ban resi- 
dences, bought scHin alter comin and 
each has taken an active part in the business. 
social, and educational affairs of the flourish- 
ing little hamlet of Fast Lyme. 



I AMES S. WILLIAMS, an ex-conductor 
on the New London & Northern Kail- 
road, a resident of New London, 
Conn., was born on September [3, [827, in 
Stonington, this county. His parents were 
Thomas W. and Lucy Ann (Fairfield) Will- 
iams. His paternal grandfather. James, Sr.. 
was a descendant of the Williams family in 
Ro.xburv. Conn. He was by in a 

farmer. He died young, leaving his w 
whose maiden name was Wheeler, with s 
children. They have all since passed to 
life immortal. James, Jr., who was unn 
ried, was lost at sea in middle 

Thomas W. Williams, father oi the sub 
of this sketch, was born in Stonington in 
1803; and his wife was born in 1807 in Wi 
stock, Windham County. They were married 
in [825. Eight children blessed their union, 
and four of them are now living; nan. 
Lydia Ann. lames s.. < i E. 

Lydia Ann. widow of Angi 1 Wheatoi 
in Wheaton, Conn. Williams i 

conductor on the West Slime Rail] 
York. Mary E. William 
ling in Egypt. A Mary, earlier b d in 



[28 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



infancy. Thomas Williams, a brother, now 
deceased, was a farmer in Pomfret, Conn. 
Another brother, David F. (also deceased), was 
a conductor on the New London & Western & 
Palmer Railroad, and the New York Central, 
and was also superintendent of the Troy & 
Saratoga Railroad. He was a clear-headed 
man, with much force of character. While 
on the New York Central Road he showed 
his bravery and self-possession by successfully 
combating three or four sporting men who 
annoyed and intimidated a carload of passen- 
gers and also made an assault on him. The 
sum of one hundred dollars and fifty cents, 
which was raised for him on the train in grate- 
ful acknowledgment of his valor, he declined 
to receive; but, the testimonial later taking 
the form of a chair, he accepted it. After- 
wan 1 the same sporting men presented him 
with a purse of five hundred dollars and a 
handsome diamond pin, which he finally 
accepted and utilized. The chair he left to 
his brother James, the pin to his sister 
Alary. 

James S. Williams in his boyhood acquired 
a common-school education, and at the age of 
seventeen began life on his own account, 
his father having given him his time. For a 
while he was engaged in farming. Then going 
to Dennisonville, now Dennison, he was em- 
ployed three years as clerk in a store. In 
1X52 he entered the railroad service as bag- 
gage-master on the train, and two weeks later 
he was made conductor of a freight train. In 
less than two years he was appointed conductor 
of a j er train, and this position he con- 

tinued to hold for nearly forty years. During 
his long service no accident and no damage to 
the railroad property was ever chargeable 
to him. Since his retirement from the rail- 
road he has officiated as agent of the Steam- 
boat Company. 



On Thanksgiving Day, 1850, he was united 
in marriage with Mary E. Adams, of Pomfret, 
Conn., where his parents lived and died on 
the farm, and where he had his home from 
1830 to 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Williams then 
removed to Palmer, Mass., remaining fifteen 
years, thereafter coming to Xew London. 
Since 1891 they have resided at 4 Pleasant 
Street. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have had 
four children, two of whom are living, 
namely: Charles C, a trainman residing here, 
who is married and has two daughters and one 
son; and Jennie, who is the widow of Judge 
John G. Crump, lives in this city, and has two 
sons. Mr. and Mrs. Williams lost an infant 
daughter and a daughter Nellie, who died at 
the age of two and a half years. 

In politics Mr. Williams affiliates with the 
Republican party. Fraternally, he is a 
Mason, belonging to Brainard Lodge, No. 
102, F. & A. M. ; and to the Royal Arch 
Chapter. He and his wife are highly re- 
spected members of the Second Congregational 
Church of New London. Personally, Mr. 
Williams is a man of fine mental and physical 
strength. 




"ON. JOHN T. WAIT.— Among the 
many things for which Norwich is 
notable, is the fact that she has 
within her borders an honored resident who is 
the oldest practising lawyer in the State, the 
Hon. John Turner Wait, for nearly sixty years 
a member of the bar, and still not only active 
in his profession, but keenly alive to the in- 
terests of the community which he has so 
effectively served in his long and distin- 
guished public career. 

Born in New London, Conn., August 27, 
181 1, Mr. Wait lost his father by death while 
yet very young, and removed with his mother 



I 




[OHN T. WAIT. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



'5' 



ich, here obtaining his early educa- 
Reaching a suitable age, he received 
\ three years' mercantile training, after 
opt the profession of 
Resuming his early studies, he there- 
il Bai on Academy, Col- 
. and two years at Washington, now 
ty, College, Hartford, lie then studied 
with the llmi. Lafayette S. Foster and 
the Hon. Jabez W. Huntington, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1836, beginning practice 
in Norwich, which has since had in him a 
ispicuous figure. In [842 he was ap- 
ted aide-de-camp on the staff of the late 
r Cleveland, while in 1842-44 and 
e's attorney for New Lon- 
inty. When the Bar Library Asso- 
>n of the county was organized in [874, 
lected as president, to which position 
he has been re-elected every year since. In 
rs 1854, 1855, [856, and 1857 he was 
didate for Lieutenant Governor on 
itic ticket, which each time failed 
ection. In [864 he was chosen as a war 
Democrat to be first elector at large on the 
Lincoln and Johnson ticket, the Republican 
ention nominating him by acclamation. 
mber of the State Senate in 1865 
• rving at both sessions as chair- 
fudiciary Committee, and the last 
sident pro tempore. During the 
rs 1867, 1871, and [873 be was a mem- 
ber of the Connecticut House of Representa- 
rving the first year as Speaker, for 
which position his party nominated him by 
imation. In [874 he was candidate for 
Lieutenant Governor on the Republican 
ticket, which was unsuccessful. In 1 876 he 
elected to fill a vacancy in the Forty- 
fourth Congress; and he was also re-elected 
five times, thus serving eleven years, after 
which he declined a further renotnination. 



While a member of Congress Mr. Wait served 
on some of its most important commit! 
and he looked after the interests ol his con- 
stituents with such untiring vigilance that 
his popularity became as widespread as it wis 
enduring; and it may be truly said that no 
man in the State to-day has more and firmer 
friends than the Hon. John T. Wait. 

In his law practice Colonel Wait has ] 
eminently successful, his commanding influ- 
ence at the bar bringing in hundreds of im- 
portant cases, which he has conducted with 
signal ability in the county, State, ami United 
States courts. As a public speaker his ser- 
vices have always been in active demand: 
and his literary acquirements ha\ duly 

recognized in tin iter of Arts, 

bestowed upon him by Trinity and Yale Col- 
leges, and Doctor ol Laws by Howard Univer- 
sity ami Trinity College. 

Mr. Wait is a member of the New London 
County Historical Society and the Sons of the 
American Revolution, an honorary member of 
the Norwich Hoard of Trade and the Arcanum 
Club, and has been president of tin- I. K. A., 
a Trinity College society, since its incorpora- 
tion. He is also one of the incorporators of 
the William W. Backus Hospital, the founda- 
tion of which institution he was active in pro- 
moting. I le has, too, been pi 1 1-' nl ol the 
Eliza Huntington Memorial Home since its 
establishment, and has been prominently 
identified with numerous fin tnd trust 

institutions. 

As an indication of th( I ami afl 

tion felt for Mr. Wait by all class pie, 

we need only mention that his every public 
appearance has been greeted with enthusiasm, 
the warmth of which has been amply attested 
by his numerous elections to publ It 

may be added, too, that, on his retirement 
from the speakership at the session 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



he was presented by the members of the house 
with a handsome silver set suitably inscribed, 
"as a testimonial of their appreciation of his 
ability, urbanity, and impartiality in discharg- 
ing his duties of the chair." From Sedgwick 
Post, No. i, G. A. R., of which he was 
chosen an honorary member, he also received 
in 1887 a richly engraved badge of solid gold, 
denominating him "the soldiers' friend"; 
while a history of Connecticut's part in the 
Rebellion was formally dedicated to him by 
the author. The Military and Civil History 
of Connecticut was dedicated to Mr. Wait in 
these words: "To John Turner Wait, late 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, a 
patriot whose only son fell in defence of his 
country, and whose many acts of kindness have 
endeared him to the soldiers of Connecticut, 
this volume, the records of their services and 
sufferings, is cordially dedicated." 

Colonel Wait comes of good old Revolution- 
ary stock, and is connected by blood with 
many of the leading families in Connecticut. 
lb- married in 1842 Mrs. Elizabeth Harris, 
who died in 1868; and he has not remarried. 
01 bis three children two survive. His son, 
Lieutenant Marvin Wait, left college at the 
of eighteen, enlisted in the Union army, 
served with distinguished courage on the field, 
and fell mortally wounded in the gallant 
charge of the Connecticut Brigade at 
Antietam. 

I [ale and hearty at the age of nearly eighty- 
three, Colonel Wait is still seen daily upon 
our streets and at bis office, as active as most 
men twenty years his junior. A courteous 
leman of the old school, he is a respected 
neighbor, an honored friend, and a welcome 
visitor In- goes; and Norwich is 

proud to own him as one of her foremost citi- 
zens. (From the souvenir edition of the Nor- 
wich Evening Record, 1894.) 




RS. LOUISA B. GILLET, of 
Colchester, widow of Solomon T. 
Gillet, was born and reared in 
Hebron, Conn., daughter of Abel Bissel and 
Lucy (Post) Bissel. She is the last living 
member of a family of two sons and six daugh- 
ters. Her brothers were Abel and Benjamin 
Bissel. The former was a merchant and 
farmer of Cazenovia, N.Y., where he died in 
July, 1885, at the age of eighty years. Ben- 
jamin, who was a farmer, kept up the old 
home in Hebron, which, in the days when 
Mrs. Gillet lived there, was one of the best 
estates in that section of the country. 

Mrs. Gil let's marriage with Solomon T. 
Gillet took place October 18, 1832. He was 
a farmer of Colchester, where, after the cere- 
mony, they resided on a farm about two miles 
east of the village. Mr. Gillet's parents were 
Caleb and Civil (Huntington) Gillet. The 
first representative of the Gillets in Colches- 
ter was Josiah, who came from Windsor, 
Conn., and, witli the family of Strongs, set- 
tled in the eastern part of the town. His de- 
scendant, Eliphalet, was the grandfather of 
Solomon T. The father, who was born in 
Colchester in 1763, died in 1830. Solomon 
T. died January 26, 1868, at the age of sixty 
years. His children were: Abel Bissel 
Gillet, who died September 20, i860, in Ver- 
non, Conn. ; and Louisa, now the widow of 
the late Phineas Roll in Strong. Phineas R. 
Strong, who was a son of Ebenezer and Electa 
(Foster) Strong, followed the trade of machin- 
ist. At one time he was an undertaker in 
Colchester. He was a reader: and he took 
much pleasure in genealogical research, on 
which subject he was an authority. lie was 
a member of the Genealogical Society. Mis 
wife was an able and enthusiastic assistant in 
his researches. He took an active part in 
public affairs, and was for twenty-five years 



BI< (GRAPHICAL RE\ I EW 






superintendent of the cemetery. He « 
iter Mason in the lodge of Colchester. At 
ii. which occurred February i _\ i 
lie was sixty-six years old. He was twice 
His daughter by the first marri 
- Fannie M. Strong, is unmarried, and 
lome. Both she and Mrs. Strong are 
oi the Congregational church, with 
which Mr. Strong was connected during his 

["he <> ! 'i I >e, which has been their 

the past twenty-nine years, was built 

in 1776. It was thoroughly remodelled in 

now one him I twenty-two 

Mrs. Gillet is a woman ol great natural in- 
1 and refinement. She is on 
e persons who never grow old, though 
- now approaching her eighty-ninth 

birth. 




II.I.IAM HENRY BURDICK, a 

well-known boat-builder of New 

London, was horn in Hopkinton, 

R.I., April 26, 1848, sun of William Robin- 

l hamplin) Burdick. 1 1 is 

idfather and father were millwrights. 

latter was drowned in 1 The 

her, who married again, and by her second 

ptain Dudley Brand, has had three 

and a daughter, survives both husbands. 

William II. Burdick, the only child of his 

ared by Joseph Burdick, receiving 

tnmon-school education. In 1866 he went 

1 before the mast with Captain Charles 

in the bark "Acors Barnes," on which 

iced for three years, and became ship's 

carpenter. Fifti in 1 88 1, lie 

ime quartermaster of the steamer " M 
politan." In the following winter he ran the 
tug-boat " S. \. Briggs," and during the 
after the tue "T. W. Wellington." Subse- 



quently he was master for a time of the 
"A. E. Burnside." He then spent six 
in command of the steam pleasure yacht "Sur- 
prise." of W. W. Billings. After that he was 
captain of the steamer "Gypsy" for two J 
and of the sloop yacht "Lady Anna," which 
he left in [892; and he was [nsp 

Dredges for the goven I for two 

Since that time he has lived on shore, follow- 
ing his present business oi boat-building, hav- 
ing acquired the necessarj experience during 
past winters in the employment oi W. 

is. A partnership with R R. Green, 
under the style of Burdick & Green, lasted 
until the fall of 1896, since which time he has 
successfully conducted the business al 

In 1.S71 Mr. Burdick was married to Mi- 
nerva Gardner. 1 1 is son Joseph died at the age 
of three years, and an infant daughter, Pearl, 
at the age of six months. In politics he is 
an Independent. He is a member of the Jib- 
boom Club ami of the American Association 
of Masters and Pilots. Formerly he w 
member of the Grand Harbor American Pilots 
and Masters. His present resid 21 

Howard Street was built by him in 1887. 
Besides this he owns the house 7 I Inward 
Street. In [887 he built his wharf, sixty-five 
by twenty-two feet. He builds yachts and 
fishing-boats thirty feet in length. In 1 
be built a boat for the federal government. 




ARRIS PEND1 l.l< IN, ol New Lon- 
don, the senior 1 the firm 
Pendleton & Son. undertakers, 
is well known in the communil man 
of integrity and business ability. I I is 
birth occurred July 15. 1845, in Brooklyn, 
\. Y. : and he is a son of I [arris 
Sarah A. (Chesl dleton. His grand- 
father Harris, son "i Amos, was bom in Ston- 



»34 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ington, November 19, 1786, and died June 11, 
1863. The father, who was born in Stoning- 
ton, February 25, 1811, became a mariner. 
During the gold excitement in 1849 he went 
to California with Captain Chester, and there 
purchased real estate, which he held for two 
years. He also owned a large amount of 
property in Stonington. His wife, Sarah A., 
was a daughter of Captain Josiah Chester, who 
was the commander of a whaling-vessel, 
making his home between voyages in New 
London, and who died here at an advanced 
age. Harris and Sarah A. Pendleton had 
eight children, of whom seven are living: 
Sarah, the wife of Clarence A. Gould, lives in 
Providence, R.I. ; James, Lucien, Charles, 
and Millard, reside in Stonington; Jennie was 
married to Wert A. Breed, of Painesville, 
Ohio, and resides there. The father died 
April 19, 1890, aged seventy-nine, and the 
mother on August 10, 1883, aged sixty-three 
years. 

After attending the common schools of 
Stonington, the present Harris Pendleton took 
a course at the Eastman Business College. 
He began his business career as a telegraph 
operator, after which he took up civil engi- 
neering, in which he was employed for a 
time on the construction of the New England 
Railroad. Following that he held a position 
as clerk in a drug store in New York City, 
learned the business, and in 1869 opened a 
drug store in Guilford, Conn., where he car- 
ried on a profitable business for twenty years. 
He came to New London in 1888, and estab- 
lished his present business, with Wilmot L. 
Parlow as partner, under the firm name of 
Pendleton & Parlow. In [892 Harris Pendle- 
ton, Jr., succeeded Mr. Parlow in the firm, 
the style of which since then has been Pendle- 
ton & Son. 

On November 10, 1871, Mr. Pendleton 



married Mary B. Burch, of Stonington. She 
is a daughter of Billings Burch, a retired sea 
captain residing at Stonington. Her mother 
was Nancy M. (Chesebrough) Burch, a daugh- 
ter of the Rev. Elihu Chesebrough, a Baptist 
minister. He went into the pulpit to preach 
when ninety years old. Mr. and Mrs. Pen- 
dleton lost two infant sons. Their living 
children are: Harris, Bessie, Coddington, 
and May Belle. Harris is in business with 
his father; Bessie is at home, attending the 
Young Ladies' High School; and May Belle 
was born May 15, 1889. 

In politics Mr. Pendleton is a Republican. 
In 1886 he represented the town of Guilford 
in the State legislature. He served as Alder- 
man for two terms, and at present is senior 
Alderman and chairman of Finance Commit- 
tee. Also he was Treasurer of the town for 
ten years, was Borough Warden for a time, 
and served in other minor capacities. A 
prominent Mason, he is a Past Master of 
Union Lodge, No. 31, and District Deputy 
Grand Master of New London County, having 
jurisdiction over all the lodges in the county. 
He is also Past Grand Marshal of the Grand 
Lodge of the State of Connecticut, I. O. O. F. ; 
holds a retired commission as Major of the 
Patriarchs Militant; and he is a member of 
the Improved Order of Red Men. 



'SHAMES ALLYN, late an honored citizen 
of New London, for some years County 
Commissioner, was born in Ledyard, 
Conn., October 22, 1822. At the age of ten 
he removed with his parents, Charles and Lois 
(Gallup) Allyn, to Montville, in this county. 
He completed his education at Bacon Acad- 
emy in Colchester, Conn., and subsequently 
engaged in farming. He was a man of liter- 
ary tastes, owned a fine library, and was well 



1 



* 1m 





JAMES ALLYN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



■37 



iin current topics, his general knowledge 

tugmented by travel. He was a 

trong i onvictions, and inspired the 

■ nt his fellow-men. In 

he affiliated with the Republii an 

Officially he was prominent, serving 

lounty Commissioner and as Representa- 

the legislature from Montville. He 

March 17, 1893, at the age of seventy, 

by his second wife, Mrs. Harriet I'. 

ind his two brothers: Robert, who was 

;<\a\\ and president of an educational 

tution in Carbondale, 111.; and Calvin 

ii, a resident of Norwich, Conn. Mr. 

n and Harriet U. Allyn. daughter of 

I .' 1 11 and Emma (Turner) Allyn, of 

London, were married December 11, 

immigrant progenitor of this family 

■ 1 i est known ancestor of both Mr. 

Mrs. Allyn was Robert Allyn, a resident, 

lalem, Mass., in [637, who, obtainii 

grant, removed to New London in [651, 

and settled at Allyn's Point on the east side 

le river. In [665 he kept store there. 

He was subsequently one of the first company 

of Norwich purchasers, and lived for some 

- in the west part of the town, being in 

1 to 1669. He died in this 

city in 1683, at the age of seventy-five \ 

n, John, who received a lega< 

n.undred and thirty-three pounds, and four 

i . each of whom received half of that 

lint. John Allyn, the son, married Eliz- 

1 . . ■ if N 1 Norw it li ; and in 1691 he 

removed to Allyn's Point, where he died in 

I, leaving an il twelve hundred and 

nty-eight pounds to his smi Robert and 

_ iiter Elizabeth. Robert, son of John, 

man 1 lorah Avery, and died in 1730, 

leaving nine children. His son Robert 1 

pied the same place, and died in 17'm, leav- 



ing worldly possessions to the amount of 
three thousand pounds. This third K 
Allyn, who represented the fourth 
was born January 25, [697, in Groton, (nun., 
and married in 1725 Abigail Avery. Their 
sons, Robert, Nathan, Simeon, and Timothy, 
were soldiers in the Revolutionary War, Sim- 
eon and Timothy being Captains. Captain 
Simeon Allyn was killed at Fort Griswold on 
September 6, 1781, in his thirty-seventh - 
Timothy was a worthy Deacon ol th< 1 
gational church. He died in Agawam, M 
June 26, 1838, at the age oi ninety yi 
Nathan Allyn, who was horn June 5, 1740, 
was one of the first to enter Fort Griswold 
after the British left ; and he helped extin- 
guish the fire set to blow up the fort. He mi- 
ll to Ohio in 1S05 with all his children, 
going from Granville, Mass., to what they 
named Granville, Ohio, where he died in 
[814, at the age of seventy-four. Nath 
son Freeman was Mrs. Allyn's grandfather. 

I iptain Lyman Allyn, son of Freeman 
Allyn ami father of Mrs. Harriet (J. Allyn, 
was 1 master mariner in the whaling trade at 
the age of twenty-one years. In 1833 he left 
the sea, becoming an outfitter with the 
Messrs. Billings. He married Emma Turner, 
who was horn in New I in., Au- 

gust 31, [804, daughter of Captain John and 
Mary (Newson) Turner and granddaughter of 
Robert Newson. an English sea captain and a 
resident of Groton, Conn. I ler fathi . 
tain John Turner, was born in Stonington, 
1.. \\\wr 15, 1769. ' Lyman 

Allyn and his wife had six children, a son and 
five daughters, of whom Harriet U. was the 
youngest. One daughter died in early life; 
and Emma Aim. d away 

On October 29, 1877. The son. John Turner 
Allyn, was a seaman. He retired to a farm 
count of poor health, and died on P'ehru- 



«33 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



arv 23, 1887, at the age of forty-nine. He 
left a widow, Lucretia L. Brown before mar- 
riage. Mrs. Harriet U. Allyn and her sis- 
ters, Mrs. Mary T. A. Henry and Charlotte 
C. , are the only survivors of the family. 
Their father died on April 8, 1874, and their 
mother on February 4, 18S1, at the age of 
seventy-seven years. Mrs. Allyn has lived at 
her present fine residence on the Norwich road 
since 1851. The house is a large stone man- 
sion, surrounded by beautiful lawns and 
choice shrubbery, and was built seventy-one 
years ago. Her father bought it with a sixty- 
acre farm, to which he added forty acres more, 
making one hundred acres. 



YgNATHAN H. AYER, a leading farmer 
I =J of Preston, was born here, in School 
J-i 9 \^ „ District No. 3, on the 10th of 
April, 1833, son of Nathan and Nancy 
(Green) Ayer. He is the third Nathan Ayer 
in the direct line of descent. Grandfather 
Ayer, who was an able farmer and well known 
in the town for his public spirit, served for 
some time as Tax Collector, and bought con- 
siderable land that was sold for taxes. He 
owned five farms, and gave one to each of his 
suns. 11 is death occurred in 1833; and he 
was buried in Preston City Cemetery, where 
have been interred the must of his descend- 
ants. Besides three daughters he had four 
sons — Elisha, William, Jonas, and Nathan. 
The Ayers have been connected with the 
Baptist denomination, and are active church 
workers. 

Nathan Ayer, second, who was born in 
1771 and died in 1853, was a farmer in com- 
fortable circumstances. His wife, Nancy, to 
whom he was married in 18 16, was born in 
Rhode Island in 1 7< >S, daughter of Peter 
11, who came to Preston in 1800. Mr. 



Green, a well-to-do farmer, was prominently 
connected with the public affairs of the town. 
He was buried in Long Society Burial- 
ground. Mrs. Nancy Ayer died in 1857. Of 
her eight children seven reached maturity. 
Nancy, the eldest, who married Henry Gal- 
lup, died at the age of thirty in Greenville; 
Desire, who died in this town in middle life, 
leaving three children, was the wife of Rus- 
sel Davis; Sarah, the widow of George W. 
Cook and now living in Kansas, is the mother 
of six children; Abby, who lives in Marl- 
boro, Mass., is the widow of William S. Cun- 
dall, and has two daughters; Harriet, who 
married Henry Albro, died in middle life, 
leaving three children; John Ayer died in 
Kansas in 1892. 

Nathan II. Ayer received his education in 
the common schools and at a private school 
in Meriden, Conn., which he attended for 
three years. At the age of twelve years he 
began to work out as a farm hand, receiving 
five dollars per month for his first summer, 
six dollars for the next, and seven for the 
third. When nineteen years old he went to 
South Coventry, Conn., to learn the hatter's 
trade, and remained there for three years. 
In 1854 he returned to the farm where he now 
resides. He owns three hundred acres. 
mostly farming lands, and carries on general 
farming and considerable dairying. He 
keeps about thirty cows of good grade, five 
horses, and employs a number of men. Dur- 
ing the past twenty-six years he has sold the 
product of his dairy in Norwich, to which he 
has gone daily for ten years in all kinds of 
weather. 

On August 20, 1854, Mr. Ayer was united 
in marriage with Adeline J., daughter of 
Lewis and Jerusha (Moulton) Tinker, of 
Mansfield, Conn. She died in 1861, leaving 
her husband with two young children, namely: 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 






[., who is now the wife ol Dr. George 
I "uk. ol Easl 1 louglas, Mass. ; and 
\.. now an ice dealer in Willimantic. 
In [862 Mr. Ayer married for his Sd 

S. Baldwin, a daughter ol Ray- 

nd Amanda Baldwin, of Mansfield. 

lied in 1871, leaving one son, Frank R. 

r, now a mechanic in Norwich. In poli- 

1 1 Ayer is a Republican. I le s< rv< 

imissioner from July. [883, to 
July, 1893, as a member of the legislature in 

■ State Senator in I 891 I and I 

; been a member of the Board ol 
ind nil the Grand Jury. In all these 
- he manifested due appreciation of 
d in him. Mr. Ayer is one 
best known farmers in the country, 
.1 large number of acquaintai 




l_ AK1» E. SPICER, a well-known 
resident ol rn Point, Groton, and 

the proprietor of a large ice-house 
i ice pond, was born in Led- 
this county, July 25, 1856, son of Ed- 
mund and Bethiah Williams (Avery) Spicer. 
The paternal grandfather, John, who was also 
itive of Ledyard, born in 1770, followed 
business of carpenter and builder. By 
wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth 
1am, he became the father of ten children. 
mund Spicer, likewise a native of Led- 
. born in January, 1 8 1 2, was a fai 
-reliant in Ledyard Centre. He <■•■■ 
ral tract d in that town. In poli- 

•. is 1 Democrat; and he was Town 
,Judge of Probate, and the Postm 
many years. In the State militia he 
held the rank oi Captain. His wife, Bethiah, 
■ a he married in 1837, had eight children, 
n of whom reached maturity; nan 
Mar, A , b'hn S. , Sarah E., 



■ \\ ., Edward E., and George W. Man' 
A. married George Fan ni ! ed- 

yard. John S. lives in Norwich. Sarah E. 
is the wife ol Nathan L. Lester, "I San J 
Cal. Carrie (I. married Amos Lester, and 
lives in Gilroy, 1 il Cecelia W. is Mrs. 
Jonathan L. Lester, ol Norwii \\ ., 

who nsides in Ledyard, is uni In 

religious belief the 

tionalists. The mother, who was remarkable 
for both physical and mental strength, died in 
March, 1 

Edward E. Sp the common 

d, and worked on the farm. At the 
of sixteen he learned the carpenter's trade, 
which he afterward followed for a numb' 1 
years. For twelve years he was d in 

dairy farming on the old Avery estate, in 
which he still holds an interest. He now 
owns a valuable ice plant, where he whole- 
sales and retails thousands of tons annually. 
In politics he is 

On December 22, 1878, Mr. Spicer and 

h Adelaide Griswold were united in mar- 
They have five children — Bethiah 
\V., Edmund, Clare, Sarah Ayer, and R 
Griswold Spicer. Bethiah, residing with her 
parents, is now attcndii col- 

lege. Edmund is attending school in New 
I ondon. Clare, who is twi 
Sarah Avar, who is nine, and Griswold 

are also attendin- school. I - musical 

id bids fair t ne violii 

In 1891 Mr. Spicer built and moved inti 
new residence al 1 Point. Mrs. 

Spii er's parents were I 

ii iswold. They v 
yard. I ! and 

in other town ofl pre- 

itive to the li 
anoth th, who still 

with hei 



'4° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 




kRS. ANN R. CHAMPION, a re- 
spected resident of Black Hall, in 

the town of Old Lyme, is a 
d. in, liter el Lathrop E. and Mehitable (Reed) 
Slate. Her maternal grandfather, George 
Reed, was a prominent farmer and large land- 
owner of Lyme, His wife in maidenhood 
was Alary Ely. Lathrop E. Slate, father of 
Mrs. Champion, was a blacksmith by occupa- 
tion and a man unusually expert at his trade. 
By his wife, Mehitable Reed Slate, he had 
thirteen children, of whom four sons and five 
daughters attained maturity, Ann R. being 
the youngest of the family but one. Those 
living, besides Mrs. Champion, are: Mehita- 
ble. now eighty-six years old, a resident of 
Ivoryton, Conn., and widow of William J. 
Lord, having been the mother of nine chil- 
dren; Sylvester W., nearly eighty years old, 
a resident of East Lyme, and by his marriage 
with Mary Jane Hurlbut the father of one 
son, Charles W. by name; and Philena, a 
resident of Ivoryton and widow of Gideon 
Rogers. Lathrop E. Slate died at the age 
oi eighty-four years, his wife surviving him 
about two years. 

Ann R. Slate in girlhood attended the dis- 
trict schools of her native town, and was care- 
lully trained by her parents in the knowledge 
ol household duties essential to a good house- 
wile. In i S4.5 she was united in marriage 
with Calvin B. Champion, and for some 
twenty years subsequently they resided to- 
gether on their farm ol eighty acres in Black 
Hall. Mr. Champion, who was a native of 
Lyme, at the age of thirteen adopted a sailor's 
life, ami followed the sea until his marriage, 
lie was subsequently successful at farming, 

;arded as one of the substantial 

and reliable citizens oi this town. He died 

. August 3, 1875, aged fifty-three years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Champion had a family ol til- 



teen children; namely, Philena, Wallace 
Ruthven, Calvin Winslow, Christina Scott, 
Frederick Lathrop, Israel, Imogene Abigail, 
Anna Mehitible, Mary Rogers, Ida Jane, 
Roger Burnham, Ancil Anderson, Edith Man- 
waring, Edward Griffin, and Virgil Warren. 
Of this family Calvin W., Frederick L., 
Israel, Anna M., Mary R., and Edith M. 
are now deceased. Mrs. Champion still re- 
sides on the farm, enjoys good health, and is 
highly respected by all the townspeople. 




,YRON WINSLOW ROBINSON, 
M.D., the senior physician of Col- 
chester and an ex-president of 
the New London County Medical Society, is 
a native of the adjoining town of Lebanon, 
where he was born May 4, 1839, son °f Will- 
iam and Sophia (Robbins) Robinson. He 
has an ancestry of which any man might be 
justly proud, the name he bears having been 
honored in New England from its earliest set- 
tlement. Seven generations come between 
him and his English-born progenitor, John 
Robinson, pastor of the Pilgrim Church in 
Leyden, a man of eminent piety and learning, 
prophetic-visioned, in sweet-spirited liberality 
in advance of his time. 

The Rev. John Robinson was born in Lin- 
colnshire, England, in the year 1575, and died 
in Leyden, Holland, March 1, 1625. In 1606 
he became assistant pastor of the Separatist 
church that was organized about 1602 at 
Scrooby, Nottingham, England, in the manor 
house then occupied by William Brewster, 
the afterward famous Elder Brewster of the 
Plymouth Colony. The congregation re- 
moved in 1608 to Amsterdam and thence in 
1609 to Leyden, where Mr. Robinson was 
chosen pastor. The wife of John Robinson 
was Bridget White, who bore him three sons 



"~*^ 




M\ RON W. ROBINSON, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



i r. 



three daughters. One son, Isaac, born in 
en in [610, came to this i ountry in 
iii'1 di Bai n stable, Mass., in i 

llis first wife was Margaret Hanford, whom 
ed June -•;. [636. She died in 1649. 
md wife, whom he is said to have 
: ied in 1651 >, was the mot hei ol I '■ 
in Barnstable, Mass., in [653 or 1655, 
in Windham, Conn., in 1740. The 
in line was Thomas, born at Tisbury, 
Vineyard, in [699, who died in 
;. March 28, 1738. Then came Reu- 
rn in 1725 at Windham, and his sun 
Ford, born in Mansfield, Conn., 1 
I her of 1 >r. Robinson, 
ird Robinson was a farmer and well- 
On October 21, 1778, he married 
Vforgan, born February 3, 1756. She 
ed 1 nan James Morgan, born in 
7 in Wales, wliu was in Roxbury in 1 

made a freeman in 1643. James and 
- . Captain John Morgan, burn March 

;;. we mmissioners and advisers to 

Indians, Deputies to the Genera] Court 
in 1690 from New London, and in [694 
Preston. Captain John's son James, 
• . ilied in Preston before No- 

~, 172I, when his estate was inven- 
Thi Samuel Morgan, 

iber 16, 170; r of Dr. Robinson's 

nothei Lucy. II'- died 1 lecembei u 1, 
Clifford and Lui v 1 Morgan 1 Robin- 
had seven children, six suns, and a daugh- 
. who never married. The suns mar- 
had families of hum four to fourteen 
cepting Festus, who had no chil- 
Grandfather Robinson died in 1814, 
and his wife in 1 X4 1 . alter twenty-seven 
3 ol widowho 
l)r. Robinson's father. William Robinson, 
burn at Chaplin, Conn.. May 24, 1789, died 
Septembei 29, 1866, in Columbia. He mar- 



ried for his first wife Hannah Robbins, who 
bore him eleven | whom grew 

to maturity, and se\ f whi now liv- 

ing. Two are in Brooklyn; namely, Mrs. 
David A. Pitcher and Miss E. A. Robin 
William I.., the eldest sun, is in blast Somer- 
ville, Mass. Two brothers and a sister are in 
Lebanon, and one brother is in Columbia. 
William Robinson's second wife, whom he 
married December j_s. [833, was hum Sep- 
tember 27, 1794, daughter of Ebenezer Rob- 
bins. She had three children — Theron, Or- 
ville, and Myron Winslow. Theron, born 
February 19, 1 s 3 5 , died at tl ol forty, 

leaving four children. Orville, burn February 
16, 1837, died I >e< embei 1 1 

hter. William Robin ive his i 

family g I educational advantages. In poli- 
tics lie was a Whig and later a Republii 
and held numerous offices in the town. lie- 
died in 1866 at th. eventy-seven 

Having finished his preparatory education 
at the Ellington High School, Myron W. 
Robinson began the study of medicine in 1858 

at Hebron, Conn., with Adam G. Craig, 
M.I)., later matriculated at the Berkshire 
Medieal College, Pittsfield, and was gra 
ated from that institnt ion in tl 
He engaged in the practice ol his profession 
at Hebron until [862, when Pre Lin- 

coln issued Ins e. ill for more volunteers. He 
then left everything, and shot 
in the Eighteenth Conm 
Infantry, < lompa 

At Fort Mel lenry. Md., he v. tiled 
to the hospital department, where he had 
charge of the convalesi ent « the 

wounded until April it, 1863, when hi 
ceived his commi 'ant surgeon ol 
the Sixth Regiment of ( cut \ olun- 
ln 1 lei ember, 1 864, he was pr t> d 



1 1 1 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



to be surgeon of the regiment; and he estab- 
lished the Hillhouse Hospital at Wilmington, 
N.C., during an epidemic of typhus fever. 
Alter the war he took a post-graduate course of 
lectures at Bellevue Medical College, New 
York City. Dr. Robinson is a member of the 
New London County Medical Society and of 
the American Medical Association. He is 
a Mason, and is also a member of the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen, of the Ancient 
Order of Foresters of America, of the 
Knights of Pythias, of the grange, and of the 
Grand Army of the Republic; and in 1884, 
1890, and in 1895 he was medical director of 
the Department of Connecticut. Since 1880 
he has been health officer of the town and 
borough of Colchester, where he settled at the 
close of the war, and engaged in the practice 
of his profession. In 1897 he was appointed 
by President MeKinley pension examining 
surgeon. Since 1885 he has been post sur- 
geon and medical examiner for the county 
coroner. 

In 1867 Dr. Robinson married Miss Emma 
J., daughter of Ralph Stewart, of Portland, 
1. By this marriage have been born two 
children: Ralph, who was graduated at the 
Sheffield Scientific School in the class of 
1894; and Annie M., who is a graduate of the 

' ecticut State Normal School in the class 

of 1891. The house in which the Doctor and 
his family reside was built over a hundred 
■ ago, and is a fine example of the solid 
and comfortable dwellings of the Colonial 
style and time. 



fONATHAN NEWTON HARRIS was 
lor man) years one of the most protni- 
nt figures in the mercantile and re- 
ligious life of New London. Horn in Salem, 
this State, .November 18, 1815, he belongs to 



the sixth generation descended from James 
Harris, who was a resident of Boston, Mass., 
in 1666. Seven children of James Harris 
were baptized in the Old South Meeting-house 
in 1683. In 1690 James and his wife, to- 
gether with their three sons — -James, Asa, 
and Ephraim — came to New London, where 
he died in 1715, at the age of seventy-four 
years. The family has since been represented 
by men of high character and fine abilities, 
and none of its members have displayed more 
noble characteristics than the Hon. Jonathan 
Newton Harris. 

Mr. Harris began his working life when 
about twenty years of age by entering the em- 
ploy of a large mercantile house in New Lon- 
don, for which he had received a special 
business training. Having gained valuable 
experience during the two years he spent 
there, he started in business for himself. 
Later he was successively the senior part- 
ner of the firms Harris & Brown, Harris, 
Ames & Co., and Harris, Williams & Co. In 
1865 he retired from the last-named firm to 
take charge of different interests. Previous 
to this, in 1S48, he had established in Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, the firm of J. N. Harris & Co., 
which has now been in business for nearly 
fifty years, and is managed by the resilient 
partner, Mr. Thomas II. C. Allen. 

From 1S56 to 1862 Mr. Harris was Mayor 
of New London. In this capacity, at the 
opening of the Civil War, he was able to len- 
der valuable assistance to his old friend. 
Governor Buckingham. New London was the 
recruiting centre of the State, and Fort Trum- 
bull the rendezvous for troops on their way 
to the front. He was the promoter of the re- 
ligious services held at the fort nearly every 
Sunday, and which, by reason of the advice 
there imparted, were most helpful to the 
men about to face the hardships and perils of 



I 



BIOGR M'HICAI. REVIEW 






In i 8< impany with Mr. 1 1 ill, of 

i . he built and successfully ■ 

llieries known as the 1 1 ill & I lar- 

1 rnin s il Mahano) City, Pa., the coal 

h obtained a wide reputation for its 

mi. In I 864 he was 

5enal 1 rora the New I 1 mdon dis- 

1 id during his term he was the chair- 

the Joint Committee on Hanks. .\i 

of the legislature an act was 

nabling the State banks to organize 

1 the national banking law. while still 

_. their rights under their old charter, 

they might at any time thereafter, 

further legislation, withdraw from 

■ mal organization and return to thc-ir 

- methods. All the State banks 
itl) idopted the national banking act. 
Harris had represented his town previ- 
1 the low ]] of the State l< 

•.here he served as a member of the 
mding Committee on Hanks and l'i- 
While he was there the tree banking 
; 852, that had caused much lo 
ders, was repealed, and the banks or- 

1 1 i;it law were given spi 

Outside Jslature Mr. I [arris's 

I "ii with hanking interests had been 

tnd it was his experience and 

banker that added weight 

mnsels as a 1 itive 

1 fe wis .1 direi tor ol the New London 

Commerce for many years, and from 

was the president of the City National 

lie was ,ds nnected with many 

mmercial interests, notably with rail- 
1 steam n.i\ ; ■ ompanies. 

' rganizers ol the Fellowes Medical 

ifacturing Company ol Montreal, Can 
with branches in New York and London, 
land, he was its president tor a number 
of years. He was also a director of the 



1 Javis & 1 aui> n il, ol 

the Xew London Northern Railroad, ol 
New I .ondon Steamboa ol 

other companies. 

.Mr. Harris « 1 v idem ified 

with the religious and benevolent work ol 
the 1 with its business in' I le 

was a Deacon in t li Congregational 

Church, the president ol the Board ol I 

the Bradley Street Missi,, n for twenty 
years, the president of the Young Men's 
Christian Association foi a time, 1 d 
the Evangelical Association ol New England, 
a charter member of the Connecticut Bible 

orporate member ol the Amei 
Board ol Foreign Missions, ami a charter 
member and for several years the president 
of the trustees of the international committee 
of the Young Men's 

Xew York. He was a linn friend ol Dw 
L. Moody from the beginning of t] ; . 
of that great evangelist, and substantially 
aided in founding the school .it Mount Her- 
mon and at Northfield, bein resi- 

dent of the Mount Hermon Seminary in 1 
Deeply interested in religious work and edu- 
11 in Japan, he founded and endowed in 
ient ilie department ol I loshisha 
Univi which was opened in 

1 890. This munificent \ 

hundred thou illars. In 1 built 

and practically pi to the city ol New 

don the Memorial Hospital, who 

ned in August ol thai year. His 
public spirit ami thi ence he felt in 

the futui w London were shown w 

he , ; the 

finest business structures in tl 
deeds of kindness to individu 
bered by his fellow-citize 

Mr. 1 [arris was first - M., 

daughter of Benjamin Brown, of this city. 



146 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



She was the mother of eight children, none of 
whom are now living. A second marriage, 
contracted in July, 1869, united him to 
M.utha Strong, a daughter of the Hon. Lewis 
Strong, of Northampton, and a grand-daughter 
of Governor Caleb Strong, of Massachusetts. 




- 



APTAIN BILLINGS BURCH, a re- 
tired sea captain of Stonington and 
a son of Samuel and Mary (Sloan) 
Burch, of Stonington. was born October 18, 
[818. The grandfather, Billings Burch, of 
Stonington, was in the Revolutionary War. 
and for the services then rendered drew a 
ion during the rest of his life. He fol- 
-I the trade of carpenter and wheelwright, 
and died in [839 or 1840, at the age of 
ninety-two. By his first marriage, which was 
contracted with Susannah Bentley, of Hop- 
kinton, R.I., he had five children — Samuel 
and four daughters — all of whom married and 
had families. A second marriage united him 
with Jane Clark, of Stonington. 

Samuel Burch, born cither in Stonington 
or Hopkinton, R.I., in 1776, was a carpenter 
by trade. He served in the War of 1S12, 
and afterward drew a pension from the govern- 
ment. At his death, in 1858, he was eighty- 
two years of age. His wife, Mary, whom he 
married April 5, 1S11, had six children, 
namely: William, born in 1814, now living 
in Bozrah; James, who died in Preston in 
1NX1 ; Billings, the subject of this biography; 
ge, who was a mason, and died in Ston- 
irles, who died in Rhode Island; 
and Mary, who was the wife of Captain 
Brewster, and died in Stonington, which was 
her native town. 

Billings Burch received a good education 
in the district schools. When fourteen years 
of age he went to sea as cook on the coasting 



schooner "Brakewater." After spending two 
years in the coasting trade, he was offered the 
command of a schooner, but preferred to avail 
of a chance to go on a whaling expedition. 
On this occasion he shipped as a hand before 
the mast, and went on a voyage of twenty-one 
months, going around Cape Horn. Captain 
Burch has been on eight whaling expedi- 
tions, serving in the several capacities of 
boatswain, third mate, second mate, and cap- 
tain. In the last-named capacity he com- 
manded the ship "Corva" on the "West 
Coast" and the "Charles Phelps" twice in 
the Arctic Ocean. He has been three times 
around the world, and during his sea voyages 
took twenty-five thousand barrels ot sperm 
and whale oil, and whalebone enough to make 
him a millionaire if he had it now. He left 
the sea forty years ago, and since then has 
led a quiet life at his home in Stonington. 
In 1S47 Captain Burch married Nancy M. 
Chesebro, a daughter of Elihu and Nancy 
(Pendleton) Chesebro and a grand-daughter 
of Elihu Chesebro, who was a Baptist 
preacher in Stonington for twenty years. 
Captain and Mrs. Burch have had six chil- 
dren, of whom two died in childhood. The 
others are : Mary, the wife of Harris Pendle- 
ton, of New London; Nancy Bell, the wife of 
James V. Trumbull, of Hartford; Oliver C, 
who lives at home; and Billings, now in New 
York. Both the Captain and Mrs. Burch are 
earnest workers and members of the Baptist 
church. 



M 



ANIEL FRANCIS GULLIVER, 
M.D., for many years a highly es- 
teemed resident of Norwich, was 
born in Boston, May 29, 1826, son of Deacon 
John and Sarah (Putnam) Gulliver. His fa- 
ther was born in Taunton in 1792, son of 
Gershom Gulliver, who was one of the min- 



I'.IOCK M'llir.M. REVIEW 



' 17 



.it Lexington; and his mother was 

■i Reading, North Parish, now North 

. Mass. She was ,i daughter oi I 

f-Ienryand Mary (Hawkes) Putnam, grand- 

ter of 1 (eacon I )aniel Putnam, and gi 

d lughter oi th I laniel Putt 

thi first minister oi the North Parish 

. where he was ordained and set- 

• '. .ind where he died in i 

i Putnam" was a son of Deacon 

gi indson of Nathaniel Putnam, 

n from England with his two brothi rs 

ither, John Putnam, and settled 

. Mass., about 1634. 

. John Gulliver was an able merchant 

irnesl Christian worker. He died at 

t, R.I., at the age oi even 

1 ■■ of his children John I'., 

Daniel F. - grew to matui ity. 

Gu livei 1^ the wife of the Rev. 1 ,ew- 

itt, I '.1 >.. oi Norwich. [*he elder 

the late Rev. John Putnam Gulliver, 

1 Andover, Mass., was the pastor of 

hurch at Norwich for nineteen 

v is tive in furthering the educa- 

5ts of the city. To his untiring 

Norwich owes her i 

,-, which is widely and favorably 

all. 

Daniel F. Gulliver was graduated at \ 

in 1 8 \8 and at Jefferson Mi 
College in 1N52. Although .1 student oi fine 
• and by nature well suited 

ive up the practice of his 

in a few years on account oi his 

th, and engaged in stock-raising, in 

which he attained notable success. Being 

mthority on this subject, he 

delivered a course of lectures at Yale at one 

time ick-raising, which attracted very 

irable comment. He was a man of refined 

tastes and keen intellect, a great reader and a 



delightful conversationalist. II' man 

of deep] . us nature, and at one t 

took part in revival work in parts of 

the State. 1 1 is zeal and efl in this 

work are still spoken oi with enthusiasm. 
During the last twent) his life Dr, 

Gulliver was connected with n Bn dway 
( 'hurch, being for nin D n. For 

he conducted a young men's Bible 1 

and in that capacity was a power tor g 1. 

His death occurred on May 2 J, 1 
week before his sixty-ninth birth. 

Dr. Gulliver was married on Septembei 
1852, to Mary, daughter of Henry and Eu- 
nice (Huntington) Strong. Eight children — 
namely, Henry Strong, Arthur Huntingl 
Gertrude Putnam, Charlotte Chester, Fred- 
eric Putnam, Eunii el! i imin 
Wolcott, and Robert Joseph — were born oi 
this union: anil six are now living I 
trude, the eldest daughter, died at tl 
three years; and Robert (Williams, 1 
died at twenty-two. Henry (Yale, [875 
married, and is now teaching in Waterbury, 
Conn. Arthur (Yale, 1877), •''*" married, is 
a cotton manufacturer oi Ashton, U.I. Char- 
lotte (Smith. [883) is now teaching in Nor- 
wich Free Ai idem) . I larvard, 
[893; l'h.I)., [896) worked for some j 
in the United States < ieologii al Sui \ < \ . and 
is now teaching in Southboro, Mass. Eu- 
nice (Smith, 1891) is at home in Norw 
imin is living in Providence, R. I. 

Mis. Gulliver's pal 
the Rev. Joseph and Mary .Huntington) 
mg. The Rev. Joseph Strong, I > I » . 
who was bom Sep r 2 1 , 1753. and 

graduated at Yale College in 1772 died 

to the pastorate of the I arch in Nor- 

wich as colh • 1 i" 

March, 177s. His ordination sermon 
preached by his brother, tl than 






BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 



Strong, D.D., of Hartford: and the charge 

was given by his father, the Rev. Nathan 
Stnmg, of Coventry. He remained pastor of 
this church till his death, December, 1834. 
The Rev, Joseph Strong's preaching was 
simple, but solemn and earnest, and proved 
very effective. He was a man of command- 
ing physique, being fully six feet in height, 
and correspondingly proportioned. The house 
in which Mrs. Gulliver now resides at Nor- 
wich Town was built by him about 1786. 

His youngest child, Henry Strong, LL.D., 
Airs. Gulliver's father, born August 23, 1788, 
was a graduate of Yale in 1S06, and a lead- 
ing citizen and influential lawyer of Norwich. 
He died November 12, 1852. His wife, Eu- 
nice, who died June 19, 1865, at the age of 
sixty-seven, was the daughter of Joseph and 
Eunice (Carew) Huntington. She was one of 
a family of ten children, five sons and five 
daughters, of whom five daughters and three 
sons grew to maturity, Mrs. Gulliver her- 
self was the only one of a family of three to 
reach adult years. 



TT^APTAIN NATHAN KEENEY, a 

I native of New London, Conn., com- 
^^ ^ mander of the steamer "City of 

Lawrence," was born on April 18, 1833, son 
ot Josiah and Sarah B. (Maynard) Keeney. 

II is paternal grandfather, Josiah Keeney, Sr. , 
died in 1820, at the age of twenty-seven years. 
His father, the younger Josiah, who was born 
in this city on July 1, i.Xii, was a sea cap- 
tain I in the coasting trade. In 1832 
he married Sarah 15. Maynard, of Waterford, 
Conn. They had five children, of whom they 
reared but two: Nathan; and his sister, Mary 
A., who married John Winslow, of New Lon- 
don. Another daughter, named Lydia A., 
lived to be ten years of age; and two children 



died in infancy. Josiah Keeney, the father, 
died at the age of fifty-four. His wife sur- 
vived him twenty -six years, dying at the age 
of eighty. 

Nathan Keeney bail limited educational ad- 
vantages, attending an ungraded school only 
in the winter time. At an early age he began 
to go to sea, and he was so rapidly promoted 
that at the age of twenty-two he became cap- 
tain. Later he officiated as first pilot for the 
steamers "City of Worcester" and "City of 
Lawrence," taking command of the latter in 
March, 1896. At intervals he has been cap- 
tain of the steamers "City of Norwich," 
"City of Lawrence," "City of New York," 
"City of Boston," "City of Lowell"; and in 
the summer of 1897 he was captain of the 
"New Brunswick." At present, as above 
noted, he is captain of the "City of Law- 
rence." In politics he affiliates with the Re- 
publican party. 

On April 12, 1859, Captain Keeney was 
married to Sarah J. Paige, daughter of John 
F. and Harriet N. (Beebe) Paige. Mrs. 
Keeney's grandfather Beebe kept the alms- 
house, which was then located where the 
Bulkley School is now, for eleven years. Her 
father also kept it there, and on its present 
site for several years. He was a stone-cutter, 
and worked on the high bridge across .the 
Harlem River, New York. He also laid the 
last stone of the New London custom-house, 
and was the last survivor of the builders. 
Mrs. Keeney is one of a large family, of whom 
six daughters and one son are now living. 
Her twin sister, Mary Breckenridge Paige, 
married William H. Sistare, of this city. 
Captain and Mrs. Keeney have had eight chil- 
dren, but have lost four: Lydia A., who died 
in her sixth year: Ella M., who lived to be 
only four years and five months; Hattie N., 
who passed away at the age of nine years; and 




.VVUI.W Kl . I 



Block M'lIlCAI. REVIEW 



•S« 



who married Walter L. Allen, 
May 22, [893, without children, .it 
twenty-eighl years. She n 
• ..1 the New London High School, 
been a successful teacher. The sur- 
nembers ol the family are: Sarah A., 
Nathan E. Geer, <>l' this city; Edgar 
. ol Newport, R.I., who has ,1 wife, 
ns, and a daughter; and two interest- 
it home, namely, Lydi 
lad) .'I musical talent, and Alberta S. 
in Keeney and his family reside at 
:t home on Keeney's Lane, in the 
ol New London, in the house which 
: by his uncle, Charles Keeney, forty- 




j^INDLOSS II. HILLIAR, of New 

1 Ion, a successful dealer in 

hardware, was hum in Liverpool, 
I, May 13, 1: 848, son of Henry and 

1 llilliar. The lather, who 

.it sea in 1S5". at tl, twenty- 

1 widow left another son, Henry 

lilliar, now in bus in Niantic, New 

inty. rhe mother, a native ol 

Westmoreland County, England, was 

. : '.rul William and Margaret (Palmer) 

-. eight of whose children are now 

in this section. Of these William 

is a retired ship-carp, nti I "l Mystic. 

Bindloss II. 1 Miliar cam.- to America with 

widowed mother when he was only four 

mpleting his studies 

in the Bartlett High School at the 

- rved an apprenticeship of three 

• " ' the machinist's tr 

ntly worked at it for seven years. Then 

he engaged in his present business at 49 Hank 

t, under the style ol llilliar & Mallory, 

which partnership lasted seven years. Since 



then the firm name has been llilliar & Co. 
They keep first -i ods, and 1 1 to 

anj emergency in their lini In 

polities Mr. llilliar votes the Republican 
1 . 1 le is a Mister Mason, nber- 

ship in the Independent Order oi Odd 
lows, ,md he has been president ol the Young 
Men's Christian Association. 

On August 19, [869, Mr. llilliar and 
I.uella Benham were united in marri 
Her mother, Frances Bolles Benham, died 
of consumption in the prime of life, leaving 
six children, of whom one son and two daugh- 
ters are living. Her father, Austin Benham, 
keeps a fish market in this city. ( >l hei .six- 
children by Mr. llilliar, four — Charles 
Henry, I.uella 15., Florence, and Raymond 
A. — are living, and reside at home. Benja- 
min Austin died at the age of fifteen j 
and Edgar Harold passed away al t ; 
twelve. In [886 Mr. llilliar bought two 
acres of land situated in a desirable location. 
and built thereon four tine dwellings. In 
one of these he resides with his family. It 
beautiful residence, equipped with all the 
modern improvements. Connected therewith 
is a large hennery, where his wife keeps fowl 
of the choicest breed. 



fSftONATHAN JEROME PALMER, 

is farmer of Preston, whose 
farm is located on /.ion's Hill, was 
born in Norwich, Chenango County, N.Y., 
June 28, 182 and 1 

ndfather, Jona- 
than Palmer, whi nington, 
Conn., married a daughtei pher 
Palmer, a distant relation; and they reared 
twelve children. Benjamin Palmer settled in 
Norwich. X.Y.. where his than 
Jerome, was born. He married for his first 



!5 2 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



wife Patty York, of that town, who died 
leaving two daughters and two sons. In 1 8 1 S 
he married Betsey Kendall, of Chenango 
County, New York. Jonathan Jerome, the 
subject of this sketch, was the only child of 
this union; and the mother died when her son 
was but two years old. The father married 
for his third wife Phebe Ives. 

Jonathan Jerome Palmer was brought up 
by his half-sister. He received a good edu- 
cation, attending the high school at Colum- 
bia, Mich., where he lived between the years 
[837 and 1841, and where his father died 
at the age of seventy-five. Returning from 
Michigan in 1841, he spent one winter in 
travelling in Pennsylvania and Southern New 
York with his eldest brother Prentice, who 
sold Yankee notions and traded in furs, lie 
then occupied himself for two years in the 
cultivation of his grandfather's farm. In 
April, 1S44, he found employment driving 
a team for B. A. & J. W. Smith in Mont- 
ville, Conn., and remained with them one 
year. In April, 1845, he moved to Groton, 
Conn., where he worked for some time in a 
granite quarry. In the fall of 1846 he 
moved to Norwich, Conn., where he engaged 
in the meat business in company with a man 
by the name of Darrow from Providence, 
R.J., their market being located at Central 
Wharf. The)' ran two meat carts, and Mr. 
Palmer continued in business there for a num- 
ber of years. Later, in company with John 
P. Kingsley, of Norwich, Conn., he con- 
ducted a market and general provision store 
it 90 Eighth Avenue, New York City, for 
some time. He also sold meat for about 
eleven years in several towns in Connecticut, 
chiefly Baltic, Versailles, and Taftville. 
During this time he resided in Hanover, 
Conn., where he had a farm. This farm he 
sold in 1867, and moved back to Norwich, 



Conn. He was at one time engaged in the 
manufacture of soap in Binghamton, N. Y., 
in company with John \Y. Smith, of Mont- 
ville, Conn. They did a good business, and 
sold a number of soap receipts to such men 
as William Colgate, of New York City, and 
others. In 1869 Mr. Palmer bought his pres- 
ent farm of one hundred and fifty acres, situ- 
ated on the east side of Ouinebaug River. 
Through the farm flows a pretty stream called 
Chaote Brook, where many a fine black bass 
and speckled trout may be caught. Besides 
general farming Mr. Palmer slaughters live 
stock for the market. 

February 8, 1844, he was married in Mont- 
ville, Conn., to Mary, daughter of Abel 
Smith. She died in 1862, leaving two chil- 
dren: Elisabeth, who married George M. Rey- 
nolds, of Chicago, and died in that city at 
the age of thirty-five, leaving no children; 
and Albert Jerome, who died of consumption 
in Norwich, Conn., at the age of twenty-nine 
years. In 1862 Mr. Palmer married for his 
second wife Emma M., daughter of Deacon 
Charles H. Starr, of Groton. By her he had 
two children — Louisa Starr ami Therressa. 
Louisa Starr became the wile of Charles 
Lamphere, and died at the age of eighteen 
after a single year of married life. Ther- 
ressa died when an infant of two years. The 
mother of these children passed away in 1877. 
Three years later, on June 28, 1880, Mr. 
Palmer married, on his sixtieth birthday, 
Emma Jane, daughter of Dr. Beckweth, of 
Angola, N.Y. She was of delicate constitu- 
tion, and lived but four years after her mar- 
riage. The present Mrs. Palmer, wl 
maiden name was Beckweth, was a cousin of 
his third wife. They were married February 
28, 1886. Mr. Palmer is a stanch Prohibi- 
tionist from the Republican ranks. He is 
much interested in educational affairs, and 



BIOGR \Pllie.\l. REVIEW 



:d on the School Committee. He is 
iptist in religion, and Ins been on the 
immittee in several different 
s with which he has been conm 
member. He is physically a h< 
nan, well preserved, and one who en- 
roughly. 




RNOLD RUDD, ol the New London 
firm Arnold Rudd & Co., wholesale 
» V^ _ dealers in flour, feed, and grain, 
n near Seneca Falls, N.Y., February 
A son oi G and Mary (Ar- 

Rudd, he counts among his ancestors 
r Rradl l 'lymouth. 1 1 is grand- 

Daniel Rudd, Jr., was a sun ol Mary 
Rudd, who was a daughter of the 
iseph an (Adams) Metcalf. 

Vlams was a daughter of the Rev. 
William Adams, of Ipswich, and his wife, 
Bradford) Adams. Alice Bradford 
laughter of Major William and Alice 
lord. Major Bradford was a 
rnor Bradford and .Alice (Carpen- 

Daniel Rudd. Jr., who was born in Con- 
it, and died in Bozrah, at the 
ty-five y>-ar-. followed farming in 
conducted a saw-mill which 
ited on his farm. A soldier in the 
ilutionary army, he took part in the bat- 
l Island. 1 [arlem I [eights, Tren- 
and Princeton. During the Lexington 
m he sei one day .is a private in 

' i i n John Perkii mpany, Col 

ih Huntington's regiment. Beginning 
in December, 1775. he wa poral in 

Robinson s company, Colonel Dur- 
nt. 1 In July 9, 1 779, he en- 

3 a private in Captain Xehemiah 
Waterman's company, regiment ol Colonel 



Samuel Abbott, and • n a tour of duty 

to New London, [n the fall ol that year he 
went to France in the frigate "Provider 

commanded by Captain Whipple, and 
turned in the followi 1. Drafted 

a tour to Hoi . in July. 17N1, i. 

for two months in that place, undei 
Xehemiah Waterman, ol the Connecticut 
rwentieth. He also served tor .1 few days in 
New London when that place was bun 

I (ei embei 7, 1 780, he married Abigail 
Allen, of Montville, Conn., who lived to be 
nearly a hundred years old. They reared two 
sons and three daughters, each of whom also 
reared families. One daughter, Lucy, who 
was the wife of Genera] Henry Burbeck, 
tained the advanced age of ninety-seven. 

orge Rudd, born in Bozrah, Conn., Oc- 
tober S, 1785, who was a cooper by trade, also 
followed agriculture, residing for the most of 
his life on a hundred-acre farm in Montville 
that was bequeathed him by his n lie- 

was in military service on the Canadian fron- 
tier during the War of 1X12. His death oc- 

d in the spring ol [866. ( >n June 
[811, he was married to M 1 'Id, who 

was born October 1 ;, 1 7 ■ d in 

[883, aged ninety years. Both Mr. and Mis. 
Rudd rest in the new cemeter) on the river 
in Montville. They were mem the 

Congregational church until the time of the 
abolition movement, when Mr. Rudd 
ruled out of the church on account ol his bold 
advoi that cause. Ot their children, 

six sons and two daugl ' ined 

maturity. A daughter died in early child- 
hood. Two of the children are now living — 
Arnold and his brother John. The latl 
who is six years youngei than Arnold, 
grain dealer, and lives in Montville. 

At the age ol 
to work in a cotton factory, where lie was em- 



'54 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ployed for two years. Subsequently he was 
employed in an oil-mill for six years, receiv- 
ing thirteen dollars and fifty cents per month. 
When he was twenty-three years old he pur- 
chased a grist-mill in Montville, contracting 
a debt of three hundred dollars. Six years 
later he bought a saw-mill close by. In the 
spring of 1866 he sold his mill property to- 
gether with a tract of land, and with the pro- 
ceeds started in his present business. Begin- 
ning as a retailer of grain and produce, he 
steadily enlarged the scope of his operations. 
Some six years ago he took into partnership 
Mortimer Beckwith and George M. Cole, em- 
ployees and kinsmen of his. His business 
block, a fine three-story brick edifice with 
commodious basement, at 157, 159, and 161 
Bank Street, New London, was erected by 
him in 1886. He is a trustee of the old Sav- 
ings Bank and a director of the Union State 
Bank. His handsome home at 12 Hunting- 
ton Street was purchased some twenty years 
ago. 

When he was twenty-five years of age he 
was married to Miss Margaret Lyon, of Mont- 
ville, Conn., by whom he became the father 
ol two children. These were: John, who died 
in infancy; and Stephen A., who died in his 
fourteenth year. By a second marriage, con- 
tracted in 1870, Miss Louisa C. Beckwith, of 
New London, became his wife. She has 
borne him three daughters, of whom one died 
in infancy. The others are: Mary L., who 
has attended school in Northampton, Mass., 
and later became a pupil of Miss Emerson's 
School in Boston; and Charlotte F., also 
attending school at Miss Emerson's. Both 
young ladies are accomplished musicians. 
Mr. Rudd votes the Republican ticket. He 
has served the public efficiently at different 
times, acting as Justice of the Peace in Mont- 
ville for three years, serving on the Grand 



Jury, and fulfilling the duties of Sewer Com- 
missioner in New London for nine years. 



AMES A. BROWN, an honored citizen 
of Norwich, Conn., residing on Laurel 
Hill, was born in Middletown, near 
Newport, R.I., February 19, 1828. His par- 
ents were George and Elizabeth (Peckham) 
Brown; and his paternal grandfather was Will- 
iam Brown, a prosperous Rhode Island farmer, 
who was the father of four sons and two 
daughters, all of whom attained to years of 
discretion. 

George Brown was born in Middletown 
about the year 1788, and died February 23, 
1853. Elizabeth Peckham Brown, his wife, 
who survived him a number of years, was a 
daughter of Peleg and Elizabeth Peckham, of 
Middletown, R.I. She was the mother of ten 
children, six sons and four daughters, of 
whom four sons and two daughters are living, 
James A. Brown, now about seventy years of 
age, being next to the youngest. The other 
survivors are: Elizabeth, aged eighty-four, 
who is living in Lebanon, Conn., widow of 
Ira B. Tucker, and has no children; George, 
aged eighty, a farmer in Lebanon, who has 
one daughter living; Almira L. , who is the 
wife of John C. Palmer, a ranchman and 
banker at Paxton, Neb., and has one daughter; 
Peleg P., a liveryman in Jamestown, R.I., 
who has five sons and one daughter; and 
Charles H., a real estate dealer in Ogallala, 
Keith County, Neb., who has five children. 
Mrs. Brown died in Lebanon, July 10, 1874, 
at eighty-six years of age, and was buried be- 
side her husband at Middletown. 

James A. Brown passed his boyhood on his 
father's farm; and up to sixteen years of age 
he was a pupil of the district school, where he 
gained a fair knowledge of the rudimentary 




JAMES A. BROWN. 



biographic \i. review 






learning. At eighteen he took 

• elf "i a carpenter, but a year later 

ned to farm labor. After his marriage 

tn Lebanon, Conn., whither his 

--law had gone, and purchased a farm. 

i Lebanon Mr. Brown subsequently went 

n the meat busi- 

which lie had followed tor two years prior 

g Lebanon. In April, (869, he em- 

n the wholesale grocery business here 

wich, having as a partner John C. 

rig business under the style of 

Brown. When they hail been to- 

seventeen years. Mr. Brown purchased 

i - interest, and continued the busi- 

ir ten years, selling oul in April, 

During the war he was Captain of the 

-. and but tor the interposition of 

you Id have enlisted for active ser- 

the front, they persuading him that he 

ie spared from the town, where he 

untiring in his efforts to relieve the needs 

ot the families of the soldiers in the held. 

1. [850, Mr. Brown was 
united in marriage with Miss Susan Weaver, 
' town and daughter of Abncr 

san (Peckham) Weaver. Her mother 
June 23, 1867, aged sixty-six. and her 
father, May 17. 1875, aged seventy-six. 
! seven children: namely, six daugh- 
1 Mm, 1 , l bner Weaver, ol Leb- 

1 onn. The three daughters now liv- 
are: Mrs. Brown; Ruth M., wit. 
William Brown, of Willimantic, Conn., a 
ot James ,\.: and Emma lb Peckham, 
ot Lebanon. Mr. and Mrs. James A. Brown 
son and daughter: Francis II., of Nor- 
wich, who is married, and has one daughter; 
and Ella J., wife of (barbs M. Cob-, a 1 
rt, who has one son. 
In political affiliation Mr. Brown is a Re- 
publican. In Colchester be served .is Con- 




stable, lie has here served on 1 anon 

Council live years, on the Board of V 

imissioners two years, alsi 

man, and since 1895 as First Selectman. 
For ten years he was a member of the Com- 
pens the 

adjustment of damages, holding th< 
under both Democratic and Republican ad- 
ministrations. He is also trustee and din 
of the Dime Savings Bank. Mr. Brown is a 
member of the Central Baptist Church, in 
which he has been a very active worker, .and 
member of the Building Committee in 
the erection of their tine church edifice. Mr. 
and Mrs. Brown reside at 124 Laurel Hill 
Avenue. 

OBERT R. CI »NGDl IN is a promi- 
nent citizen of New London, now for 
5 V some time retired from busin 
He was born in Newport, R.I., April 19, 
1842, and is a son of the late William I'. 
and Nancy (Tilleyi Congdon. His paternal 
grandfather, Cat born in 

Newport, R.I., about 1775. He died in the 
prime of life; and his wile, whose maiden 
name was Sarah Trior, was left at his death 
with a family of nine children, six sons and 
three daughters, the- yo leven \ 

old. She wa ible and thrifty woman, 

and was equal to thi all 

her children bly. She died in 1S5N. 

seventy-five years, and is buried in New- 
port. Of her children tin- -John, 
Jo-epb, and Robert learned the 
trade, and eventually became sail- ris- 
ing to the rank of captain; and James, Will- 
iam, and Peleg were m< and 
John never married, and Robert and Ma 
had no children. The ■ 
and all ha> e now passed 

William I'. < !ongdon wa- born in N 



1 5 8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



R.I., in 1807. He was engaged as clerk in a 
store in Georgetown, S.C., when he was but 
fifteen years old; and two years later he went 
into business himself. In trade over fifty 
years, he was very successful; and at his 
death in 1X79 he left a valuable property to 
his children. He was married in Newport, 
June 26, 1830, to Nancy Tilley, of that city, 
a member of an old and numerous family. 
Her immigrant ancestor was William Tilley, 
an Englishman, born in 1641, who settled in 
Boston, Mass., and was the first rope-maker 
in this country (see Genealogy of the Til- 
ley Family, published in Newport, R.I., in 
[878). Mrs.. Congdon's grandfather, Will- 
inn Tilley, was born in Newport, October 19, 
1738, and died there, April 14, 1825, aged 
eighty-seven. He was three times married, 
and by his first wife had seventeen children. 
During his lifetime his progeny increased to 
ninety grand-children and thirty great-grand- 
children. Abraham Tilley, Mrs. Congdon's 
father, was one of the children born of his 
father's first marriage. Mrs. Congdon died 
in 1S90. She was the mother of twelve chil- 
dren, nine of whom attained maturity, namely: 
William, who went to California in 1849, 
and was engaged there in silver mining until 
1876, coming East then to attend the Centen- 
nial, and who has since resided in Newport; 
Charlotte, Ruth, and George, all now de- 
ceased; Sarah, wife of Joseph P. Stevens, of 
Newport; Robert, the subject of this sketch; 
James, living in Newport; and Martha and 
John, both deceased. 

Robert R. Congdon acquired his early 
education in the district school. In 1859, 
when he was seventeen years old, he became 
a clerk in his father's store in Georgetown, 
S.C., where he was employed until the break- 
ing out of the Civil War in 1S61. He then 
returned with his father to Newport, and re- 



mained until the close of hostilities, resum- 
ing business in 1865. The firm of which the 
younger Mr. Congdon was a member was at 
that time known as Congdon, Hazard & Co. 
In 1870, when about twenty-eight years of 
age, he severed his connection with the firm, 
and entered the employ of C. D. Boss, a 
cracker manufacturer in New London. In 
1879 Mr. Congdon succeeded Mr. Boss as a 
member of the firm, and was successfully en- 
gaged in business until 1886, when he retired. 
In 18S5 he purchased the Cheeseboro property 
on Post Hill. His house, which is located on 
Nathan Hale Street, is one of the largest, 
handsomest, and most beautifully situated in 
the city, commanding a beautiful view of 
Groton and the Thames. 

Mr. Congdon was married November 12, 
1867, to Eliza Boss, of this city, daughter of 
C. D. Boss, whom he succeeded in business. 
Mr. Boss died in 1895. Three sons- 
Thomas Boss, Carey, and Robert R., Jr. — 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Congdon. 
Thomas Boss Congdon died in 1892, aged 
eighteen years. Carey Congdon, who studied 
at the Boston Institute of Technology and at 
Harvard University, is in the water and 
sewer department of this city. He has taken 
several degrees of Masonry, being at present 
a member of the Blue Lodge, and is Lieu- 
tenant of Company I, Third Regiment, Con- 
necticut National Guards. Robert R. Cong- 
don, Jr., who is a graduate of the Boston 
English High School and Bryant & Stratton's 
College, is a clerk in the New London Sav- 
ings Bank. He, too, is a Mason, and is .1 
private in the militia. Mr. Robert R. G 
don, Sr. , has been elected by the Demo- 
cratic party in New London, with which he 
has long been connected, to the offices of 
Councilman and Water Commissioner, and 
is at present serving on the Water Board. 



Iilne.u.M'IIICAI. RKVIFAV 







C^/ALLACE R. CHAMPII >N, a mer- 
chant of Bl ick 1 1. ill, was born in 
1848 at Old I. vmc. Conn. He is 
id child and first son of his parents, 
tnd Anna R. (Slate) Champion. I lis 
-ill living on her farm near this 
He attended the district schools of 
tive town in his boyhood, and also 
on his father's farm. At the age of 
me he became a clerk for R. W. De- 
remaining in this situation for three 
He then went to Madison, where he 
1 for twi Still later he cum- 

in business for himself in Hartford, 
in held and country produce. 

old out and removed to Lyme, 
irtner in the firm "1 Mor- 
! Champion, who kept a general store, 
later, on the death of Mr. Mor- 
W. DeWolf, Mr. Champii 
cr-in-law, became a member of the firm, 
: which was then changed to De- 
At the end of 
by Champion & Caul- 
This linn had conducted the business 
for tin years when Mr. Champion sold his 
interest to his brother, R. 15. Champion. Il< 
il on th ■ mmercial travel- 

ler in the gentlemen's furnishing line, travel- 
through New York and the New England 
I he opened his present si 
re he has mer- 

ise busii 
I'i politics Mi. Champion is a Republii 

1 Town 1 1 1 is 

Amis principles are those of a stanch I 
In June. 1870, he married Lillie 1. 
Butler, m| Rocky Hill, Conn., and now has 
three children - .. lit ista, 

and Gertrude Louise. Edgai I: 

v College "i Pharmacy, is at 
-t in Haiti in- Ib- 



is married and is twenty-four years of 
Florence Augusta is a student at Smith 
College, class of [898. Gertrude Louise 
with her parents, and attends the 
gan School, where she is taking 
paratory course. Mrs. Champion is a Con- 
gregationalism Mr. Champion has succeeded 
in building up a fine trade with his experi- 
. natural adaptability, and p ad- 

He is highly respected in the town. 




BEL 11. HINCKLEY, the Postn 

of Old Mystic, was bom in the ad- 
'wV^ joining town of Groton, 
is. [839, s.m oi Ali. 1 and Abbie Eliza (Bab- 
cock) Hinckley. The Hinckleys trace tl 
lineage through a long line ol noble ances- 

. and are identified with New England 
history from its earliest period. Samuel 
Hinckley came from Tenterden. Kent County. 
England, on the "Hercul mmanded by 

Captain Witterly, and landed at Boston in 
[634. In the following year he settle. 
Si ituate; and in 1(140 he removed to Barn- 
stable, where he died October 31, 1662. His 
son Thomas became Governor "i Plymouth 
Colony. Another son, John Hinckley, was 
the progenitor of this particular branch of the 
family. 

Abel Hinckley, who was bom on Hinckley 
Hill. Stonington, November 12, 1803, died 
September 18, 1883, nearly eighty . 

llis.ii ipation was farming. In 

his earlier years he taughl tor twenty- 

two winters in Stonington, North Stonington, 
and for six years ,.f the time in Westerly. 
1 1 served his town 

I lis wile, in maidenhi Abide 
Eliza Babcock, who was born in I 
tember 22. 1817, daughter oi Stanton I 

.. and whom he married May 5. 1 



i6o 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



died April i, 1894. Of their five children, a 
son and two daughters reached the years of 
discretion, namely: Abel H.. the subject of 
this sketch; Alice B., born July 31, 1845, 
the wife of Allen Avery; and Agnes J., born 
February 18, 1848, in Groton, the wife of 
Jefferson O. Bailey. 

Abel H. Hinckley attended the high 
school in Syracuse, N. Y., of which place his 
parents were residents from 1848 to i860. 
At the first call for volunteers he enlisted 
from Latrobe, Pa., in the Eleventh Pennsyl- 
vania Regiment, with which he served three 
months. In 1862 he re-enlisted in the One 
Hundred and Thirty-fifth Pennsylvania Regi- 
ment, and was out nine months, rising to the 
rank of Lieutenant. While living in Syra- 
cuse, he became interested in the nursery 
business, with all branches of which he made 
himself familiar by a five years' apprentice- 
ship. Thereafter it engrossed his time and 
attention up to 1886. He owned fourteen 
acres of land here in Mystic village on Main 
Street, four acres of which were set with fruit 
and evergreen trees, and the remainder used 
for the nursery proper. His trade was a local 
one. 

When discharged from the army, Mr. 
Hinckley returned to Latrobe, Pa., and on 
November 11, 1863, was married to Caroline 
M. Hair, a daughter of Sebastian and Naomi 
(Keenor) Hair. Her father, who was a mer- 
chant and Justice of the Peace, died in 
March, 1895, when seventy-one years of age, 
leaving his widow and this one child. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hinckley have lost their first-born, 
Minnie (J. Hinckley, who died January 1, 
1885, in her twenty-second year. They have 
one child living, Helen Hobart Hinckley, fif- 
teen years old. who is attending school and 
taking piano lessons. They reside on Main 
Street, where they settled soon after mar- 



riage. In politics Mr. Hinckley is a Demo- 
crat. He has been a Selectman of the town, 
Tax Collector for nine years, and has been a 
Notary Public for some time. He was the 
Postmaster under President Cleveland's first 
and second administration, and he has contin- 
ued in the office so far under President Will- 
iam McKinley. 




ORACE WAIT TINKER, retired 

ship-carpenter and builder of Mystic, 
Conn., was born in the town of 
Lyme, in the south-western part of New Lon- 
don County, July 17, 1828. His parents 
were Charles and Mahala (Beckwith) Tinker. 
His mother, who was born in Genesee 
County, New York, in 1805, was the daugh- 
ter of Joseph and Esther (Wait) Beckwith; 
and his maternal grandmother was an own 
cousin of the late Chief Justice Waite. In 
1842 Charles Tinker died, in middle life, 
leaving his widow with five children. 

A few years after his father's death Horace, 
then a boy of about seven years of age, went 
to live with Nathaniel Wait, a farmer, con- 
nected with the distinguished family of that 
name. He lived there twelve years, and was 
brought up a thorough farmer, working hard 
in the summer, and attending school in the 
winter. Mr. Tinker has a vivid remem- 
brance of the father of Judge Morrison R. 
Waite, Henry M. Wait, who was the brother 
of Nathaniel above mentioned. About the 
year 1858 Mr. Tinker went from Lyme to Old 
Mystic, Conn., where he worked in the ship- 
yard of Greenmans and Charles Mai lory many 
years, remaining there until they gave up 
their business. He became a master of his 
business, and was most successful and enter- 
prising as a subcontractor. He has done no 
active business of any account for the past six 
years. 




HORACE W. TINKER. 




MRS. HORACE W. TINKER. 



Bl( (GRAPHIC M. REVIEW 






of twenty-three Mr. Tinker mar- 

lelia Smith, the daughter of John and 

Whipple) Smith, of Old Mystic, where 

. 1 826. Three children, 

id .1 daughter, were the fruit oi 

II are now living and are mar- 

, Hi 1 [enry and Chai les Al- 

ing practising physicians in New 

. _ f ., : iti New York I lo- 

1 he daughter, Esther 

linker, born October 14. [869, is the 

John II. Johnston, of Mystic, and the 

on, Charles I lorace Johnston. 

Alphonso, of New York City, b 

11, ami one daughter. Mrs. Ar- 
Tinker was for the last twenty y 

I sufferer from rheumatism, 
- most tenderly and devotedly • 
er husband, he sparing no pains or ex- 

ure her comfort and happii 
tined a di in Iter death, which 

in Mystic, December 25, [896. She 
del wife and mother, and the union 
the two was an ideal one. 
Mr. Tinker is bound down to no creed in 
and to no one platform in politics, 
lection days he has in the main \ 
Republican side. A man of finely 
led physique, which the excellent 1 
sturdy manual labor and 
from all bad habits has doubt mm h 

rve, he is | of a noble and 

kindly nature, and is strictly honest, lie is 
to hi mily, and takes especial pride 
in his daughter's six-year-old son, a handsome 

1 the 
ire. 



( ..r, 



HARLES GRISWOLD BART- 



II. IT. the principal and proprietor 
V^L__- I the Black Hall School, establi 

by him twenty-two \ ra in the 



town of < )ld Lyme on < 'In i I 

■t Shubael Fitch and Fannie (Griswi 
Bartlett. He belongs to the ninth 
tion iks. from Roberl B rl ett, who 

from England on the "Ann" in r 
and who married Mary Warren. In Mr. 1 
lett's 1 ". May- 

flower" ancestors. The male 1 in 
in the Bartlett family ft 

Benjamin, Ichabod, Josiah, Ichabod, 
John. Shubael, Shubael, and 1 

The first Shubael Bartlett, who w: 
in 1779, married Fannie ! Nor- 

wich, scendant of Lieutenant Thoi 

ngwell, well known in the Colonial his- 
tory of this country. In this family 
nine children, all of whom bad families 
cepting one son, I bur'.. Grandfather Bart- 
lett died at the nty-five, and his 
widow, at the age of eighty-four. Both 
buried at Hast Windsor. Shubael Bartlett, 
Jr., was born in Mast Windsor in l8ll. He 
was a Yale graduate, class of 1833, and 
well known all through this section as Dr. 
Bartlett. His wife, Fannie, whom he mar- 
ried on September t. [842, •■ is born in New 

Ion in March. 1822. She bore him three 
children, one of whoi d in 

infancy. The remaining two tries G. 

Bartlett; and Mrs. Adaline Bartlett Allyn, 
now residing with her brother. 

Mr. Bartlett pn the 

II art tor. I High 

oi 1 872. He did not grai te witl 

5, but in 1888 thi red upon 

him the honorary di 
I le has become widely known 
and as the successful princi] 
school. His institution is that 

students come to it I e in 

the Union. He h 
whom h 



1 66 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



courses. The fine estate on which the school 
building is now located was formerly the 
property of Captain George Moore. Since 
buying it, Mr. Bartlett has enlarged it, made 
many improvements, and arranged it so as to 
make it most admirably adapted to his work 
and to the growing needs of his school. It 
has a most desirable situation on Long Island 
Sound and on the Connecticut River, and, in 
respect to sanitary arrangements and in the 
facilities it offers to students, is unrivalled. 

On October 3, 1 8 7 1 , Mr. Bartlett married 
Anna Pierson Terry, of Hartford, daughter 
of Roderick Terry. Mrs. Bartlett died Feb- 
ruary 9, 1896, at the age of forty-six years. 
Their children are: Henriette Collins, who 
was educated at Orange, N.J., and at Water- 
bury: Charles Griswold Bartlett, Jr., a stu- 
dent in Yale University, class of 1899; Sarah 
Pierson, now at school in Brooklyn, L. I. ; 
Frank Trowbridge, deceased; and Harold 
Terry, ten years old, who is a pupil in his 
father's school. On July 6, 1S97, a second 
marriage united Mr. Bartlett with Miss Har- 
riet Butler Banning, of Old Lyme. In poli- 
tics he is a conservative Republican, in re- 
ligious faith an Episcopalian. 



-^KNJAMIN W. JENKINS, a resi- 
dent farmer of Salem since 18S2, 
was born in New York City, Au- 
gust 6, 1847, son of William and Harriet A. 
(Tiniam) Jenkins. The father was a head 
drayman and carman, and in the steamboat 
agency. The mother, whom the latter mar-, 
ried May 2S, 1 S46, was a native of Troy, 
N.Y. Of their six children four are living, 
namely: Benjamin W., the subject of this 
sketch; William W., a boss drayman of New 
York City; Theodore Franklin, an agent for 
a steamboat company; and Lillian A., who 



resides with her brothers at 6 Commerce 
Street, New York, the home of the only mar- 
ried brother. When the father died, in 1877, 
his sons William and Theodore succeeded 
him in business. The widow died on Decem- 
ber 27, 1893, at the age of sixty-six years. 
Both are buried in the Lutheran cemetery on 
Long Island. While he did not profess any 
religion, he was kind and generous. 

At the age of twelve years, after receiving 
a common-school education, Benjamin W. 
Jenkins began to earn his own living. When 
fourteen years old he went into the employ of 
a silversmith in Ball, Black & Co.'s build- 
ing, remaining for more than six years. In 
1870 he was employed by Tiffany, the well- 
known jeweller, who one year later made 
him foreman of his department, a position 
that he held for twelve years. In 1882 he be- 
came the foreman of a department in the 
Whiting Manufacturing Company. After 
eleven years spent with this firm, on finding 
his health in a poor condition, he bought of 
Wellington S. Gott, for the sum of twenty -six 
hundred dollars, his present farm of one hun- 
dred and eighty-five acres. Here he lived 
quietly for a time, and regained his health. 
Then he returned to the employment of the 
Whiting Company, leaving his family on the 
farm. 

On February 3, 1868, Mr. Jenkins married 
Susan Cornelia McNaughton, a daughter of 
James and Agnes McNaughton. Her father, 
who served in the Federal navy during the 
Civil War, at the close of the war was num- 
bered among the missing, and without doubt 
lost his life in the cause of the Union. Mr. 
and Mrs. Jenkins have three children, as fol- 
lows: Agnes C, wife of William R. Golding, 
who resides in Tenafly, N. J., and has three 
children; Grace E., who is the wife of Alvin 
F. Kargo, a farmer .in Bozrah, and has one 




STEPHEN H. HALL. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



169 



son; and Mary I., who is the wife of Edward 
W. Fargo, oi New London, has two sons. In 
politics Mr. Jenkins supports the Republican 
ticket. He is a member of the Knights of 
Honor, and was formerly connected with the 
r of United American Mechanics. Con- 
ring his early training and long residence 
in a great city, Mr. Jenkins has been fairly 
11] as a farmer among the Connecticut 
hills. 



51 RA J. MARTIN, the superintendent of 
the Bozrahville cotton-mill, was born in 
eiL Sterling, Conn.. June 8, 1857, son oi 
liam 1). and Maria M. (Harrington) Mar- 
tin, who were natives respectively of Kill- 
.' and Woodstock, Conn. The father, 
was for some years a cotton-mill super- 
ndent, later in life invented a turbine 
water-wheel. He died when his son, Ira J., 
the subject of this sketch, was nine years old. 
Ira J. Martin began life for himself at the 
of eleven years as an operative in the 
Whitestone Mill at East Killingly. Here 
for some years he was employed during the 
summer season, and attended school during 
the winter. At the age of twenty he went to 
Pawtucket, R.I., where he was for a short 
time a pupil at the high school. From Paw- 
tucket he went to Springvale, Me., as over- 
»eer in the Springvale cotton-mills; and a 

■ t time later he" went to North Uxbri 
Mass., where he was employed in the same 
capacity al the Uxbridge cotton-mill for four 
years. After working as overseer in the 
Smithville mills at Willimantic for a time, 
he was appointed superintendent oi the Staf- 
ford Manufacturing Company's nulls in Paw- 
tucket. In the spring of [892 
his present position, that of superintendent oi 
the Bozrahville cotton-mills, and has since 



devoted his energy and experience to this en- 
terprise. He has under his direction an aver- 
age of one hundred and twenty-live hands, and 
the quality of goods turned out at these mills 
has acquired a high reputation. 

.since coming to Bozrah, Mr. Martin has 
taken much interest in public affairs, acting 
with the Republican party. Since 1894 he 
has been the chairman of the Republ 

Town Committee. He is a Justi f the 

Peace: has served as the chairman of the 
Board of School Visitors; is connected with 
the Masonic fraternity of Uxbridge, Ma 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen of 
Lebanon, Conn., and with the Royal Arcanum 
of Norwich. Also he is the chairman of the 
Executive Committee of the Bozrahville Re- 
ligious Union, an incorporated society in 
which he takes an active interest. 

lie wedded Yerina I.. Pray, a native of 
Killingly, and has a family of seven children. 
A self-made man, he is held in high consider- 
ation by the people of Bozrah; and he fully 
merits the respect accorded to him. 



YgTOX. STEPHEN II. HALL, Post- 
r^ri master of Norwich, Conn., the post- 

Ji® V . office here having been under his 

aide management since April 1, [81 
born in Waterford, Saratoga Count)-, N.Y., 
January 3, (849, son oi Henry M. and Betsey 
(Van Voorheis) Hall His grandfather Hall 
was a native oi Massachusetts and a lit' I 
resident of that State. He married Miss 
Sophia Cooley. 

Henry M. Hall was born in Springfield, 
Mass., in 1820. He was an iron moulder by 
trade, and for many years was superintendent 
of the foundry in Elizabethport, N.J. lb- 
died in 1863, aged forty-two. Betsey Van 
heis, to whom he was married in 1848 at 



fj6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Clifton Park, Waterford, where the early years 
of their wedded life were spent, was a daugh- 
ter of Jeremy and Ann (Lasalle) Van Voor- 
heis. She bore her husband three children; 
namely, Stephen H., Charles, and George D. 
Charles Hall, born in 1850, died in Water- 
fun 1, X. V., in 1SS0, leaving a wife and two 
children, one a son, George, living in Water- 
ford. George D. Hall is a machinist in 
Waterford, and has two sons. Their mother 
continues to live on the old Waterford home- 
stead, and is still very active despite her 
seventy-three years. 

Stephen H. Hall was an attendant of the 
Waterford district school until fourteen years 
of age. Then, in 1863, his father having 
died, he started out for himself, without cash 
capital, and with his few earthly possessions 
tied together in a bundle. When leaving 
home he intended to become a sailor; but in- 
stead of shipping he replied to an advertise- 
ment in a Springfield paper for a newsboy, 
and was soon installed in the news store of 
A. F. Jennings, of that city, where he worked 
over two years, beginning at one dollar and a 
half per week and board. His next position 
was in the pistol manufactory of Smith & 
Wesson, lie being the only boy employed 
there. He remained in the factory for four 
years, during which time he gained a thor- 
ough knowledge of certain parts of the me- 
chanical work. In [869 he went West, and 
spent the succeeding two or three years in 
various places, securing work first in Chicago, 
later successively at Des Moines and Council 
Bluffs, la . , and Omaha, Neb., engaging in 
the then new enterprise of rubber-stamp mak- 
ing. He also went South to Missouri, Texas, 
Arkansas, and Tennessee, then back to In- 
diana, Ohio, Michigan, and Canada, meeting 
with good financial success. In 1 873 he 
• to Norwich, and went to work in the 



pistol factory, where he remained for fifteen 
years. 

He was elected in 1887 a member of the 
upper house of the State legislature over 
H. H. Osgood, the Republican candidate, and 
served two years. After that he went into the 
mail service as route agent from Boston to 
New Vork City, working at this sixteen 
months. In 1888 he was the Democratic 
candidate for Congress, and ran ahead of his 
ticket, coming closer to an election than any 
of his predecessors had done. His Republi- 
can opponent received a majority of somewhat 
over six hundred, which, compared with the 
majority of over three thousand given the Re- 
publican candidate in 1894, speaks well for 
Mr. Hall. He served on the School Board 
three years. In his religious views he is a 
Universalist. Fraternally, he is a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in 
which he has passed the different chairs; of 
the Knights of Pythias; the Improved Order 
of Red Men; the A. O. U. W. ; the New 
England Order of Protection; the Veteran 
Fire Association; and the Foresters. Mr. 
Hall is president of the local board of the 
Guarantee Savings Loan and Investment Com- 
pany of Washington, D. C. In the New York 
JournaVs vote for Connecticut's most popular 
man Mr. Hall was second, receiving eighty- 
four thousand and thirty-nine votes. Ex- 
Governor Waller was first, receiving ninety- 
two thousand. 

On November 2, 1878, Mr. Hall was mar- 
ried to Miss Caroline E. Blackwell, of East 
Wareham, Mass. Her parents were Ellis and 
Elizabeth Blackwell, and she has one brother, 
Thomas Blackwell; of East Wareham. There 
were two sisters, but neither is now living. 
Maude E. Hall, the only child of Mr. and 
Mrs. Hall, is a student in Norwich Free Acad- 
emy. The family reside at 22 Fairmont Street. 



BIOGR VPHICAL REVIEW 



• 7' 



7T"\APTAIN DANIEL WEBSTER 
IV CHESTER, a well -known sea cap- 
V w~ ^ tain of Noank and a son of Charles 
Bets) (Wilbur) Chester, was born here, 
i 4, 1839. His ancestors were among 
settlers oi New England. The first 
iter of whom there is a rei ord was a > ertain 
John Chester, who, it is said, 1 
England in his own ship. Nathan Ches- 
tne grandfather of Captain Daniel, was 
April 14, 1765, at the Cluster farm neai 
tern Point. He followed tanning on the 
homestead, a mile distant from Noank, 
lived to lie ninety years of age. With his 
who was a Wal Iswort h, he reared seven 
1 . Nathan, the eldest of 
these children, went to Ohio, where he was 
dent oi a college. Asa ami Eldredge, 
were twins, settled at Albion, N.Y. Ex- 
\ bert, all Nathan's children are de- 
Their descendants still live in the 
Wi --t. Charles Chester, the father of the 
of this sketch, horn in Noank about 
1794, died in [848. He married Betsy Wil- 
bur, ot Noank, who, horn in 1800, died in 
1884. Their four children were: Delia, who 
is now the widow of G I 'hipman, oi 

Noank, and has one daughter; William 
iter, who was a bachelor, and died in 
;; and Charles Ira ('Inst,!, of Noank, 
horn in [8 34. 

1 laptain 1 laniel Wi 1 Ihester was edu- 

1 in the district schools, which he at- 
tended until about thirteen years oi age, 
being employed Foi eight months of the year 
on a fishing-smack. For the past twenty 
rs he has been "Captain" Chester. Dur- 
the first ten years of this time he was em- 
ployed in the coasting trade with Southern 
ports and the West Indies. In the last ten 
- In- sailed to Australia, Africa, Europe, 
Peru, and the Philippine Islands. The two 



latter places ware visited while the Chilian 
Wai was waging. Hi- coasting servia 
five \e.n s wa> pei formed on the "Triune 
a two-masted schooner. His second I 
which served him for five years, was 
master; and his last ship was .1 ister 

of eighteen hundred tons, called "The Daunt- 
," built in Mystic, and in which he made 
his foreign voyages. This vessel ■ 
away on the coast ol Africa, He abando 
his seafaring life in 1883. Since that time 
he has been engaged in the coal busim 
About twenty-seven years ago he elected his 
residence at the corner ot Chapel Street and 
< Ihester .Avenue. 

On December to, sin 

married Mary Emma Fitch, of Noank, daugh- 
ter of Elisha and Mary Peabody Fitch, ol the 
same place. Her grandparents were Latham 
and Waty (Burrows) Fitch. Mr. Fitch, a na- 
tive of Groton, followed the sea. and died in 
1808. His wife was born August i\ 1769, 
and died May 22, 1863. Nathan Burrows, the 
maternal grandfather of Mrs. Chester, lived 
in the village now known as Mystii 
his hous I a hospitable n treat to refu- 

gees from Fisher's Island, Long Island, and 
Block Island. Main- ware the interesting 
stories that Mrs. Waty hitch nlated to her 
children, grandchildren. at •grandchil- 

dren, of the stirring events of the Revolution. 
Among them she told of the massacre at Fort 
Griswold in 1781; of the burning of the 
houses on Fisher's Island in tin- first bom- 
bardment of the coast in September. 1775: 
and ot the mutiny, threi 1 the 

privateer "Eagle," in which ' ot her 

friends were murdered. She had nine chil- 
dren, eight of whom, foui md four 
daughters, reached maturity. Captain Ches- 
ter and his wife have had Wvc children, 
namely: Lizzie D., who died at the age ot 



T 7 2 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



nine years; Juliette F., who was educated at 
Wilbraham; Hattie, who died when nine 
months old; John D. W., now a student at 
Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., class 
of 1899; and Claude Milton, a graduate of 
Bulkeley School, and now attending Colgate. 
Roth the Captain and Mrs. Chester are mem- 
bers of the Baptist church. Captain Chester 
is a trustee and the treasurer of the society. 




TLAS B. WHEELER, an enter- 
prising and progressive agricultur- 
ist of Stonington, Conn., has been 
identified with the leading interests of this 
section of New London County for many years 
as an educator, a town officer, and a member 
of the legislature. He was born June 25, 
1845, on the farm where he now resides, and 
which was also the birthplace of his father, 
the late Hiram W. Wheeler. He is of Eng- 
lish antecedents, the emigrant ancestor on 
both sides being Thomas Wheeler, who came 
to this country in the very early part of the 
seventeenth century, and is likewise a direct 
descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mul- 
lins. The homestead property, originally 
containing one hundred and sixty acres, was 
formerly owned by the great-grandfather of 
Mr. Wheeler, who willed it to his sons, Na- 
thaniel and Silas, the latter being the grand- 
father of Silas B. The first house on the 
place was built in 1680; but of this nothing is 
left standing excepting the large stone chim- 
ney, the remainder having been taken clown in 
.895. 

1 1 i ram W. Wheeler was born February 19, 
1805, and spent his life engaged in agricult- 
ural pursuits on the homestead, his death oc- 
curring here, January 19, 1891. He married 
Mary B. Wheeler, who was a distant relative. 
She was born in Stonington, January 1, 1812, 



and died December 14, 1S85. On February 
1, 1832, the union of the parents was solem- 
nized. They had five children, as follows: 
Hiram W. , born November 19, 1832, a car- 
penter by trade, went to Minnesota when a 
young man, and was accidentally drowned Au- 
gust 27, 1856, in the Mississippi River; Sam- 
uel A., born October 23, 1838, a resident of 
Providence, R.I., is superintendent of the 
Consolidated Railroad from New London to 
Providence; the Hon. Ralph Wheeler, born 
May 14, 1843, was graduated from Yale in 
1864, studied law in Mystic and Ohio, is a 
leading attorney of New London, of which he 
is an ex- Mayor and Judge of the Superior 
Court, an office to which he was appointed in 
1893; Silas B. , the special subject of this 
brief biographical sketch; and Mary A., born 
January 30, 1850, who lives on the old home- 
stead with her brother Silas. 

Silas B. Wheeler was graduated from the 
Mystic River Academy when but sixteen 
years of age, and at once began his profes- 
sional career, continuing for twenty-eight con- 
secutive years as a teacher in the public 
schools of this locality. In 186S he was 
elected a member of the Town Board of Edu- 
cation, in which he has since done faithful 
service, his thorough acquaintance with the 
duties and needs of the schools making him a 
most efficient and desirable official. He has 
also been Assessor, a member of the Board 
of Relief, a Justice of the Peace, and in 1888 
was elected as a Representative to the State 
legislature, in which he served on the Educa- 
tional Committee. In 1890 he was re-elected 
to the same responsible position, and during 
that term was a member of the Committee 
on Railroads. Having given up his school to 
enter the legislature, Mr. Wheeler has since 
turned his attention to farming, occupying the 
ancestral homestead, which he bought from 



BIi >GR VPHIC M. REVIEW 



173 



the remaining heirs after his lather's death. 
, tains one hundred and twenty acres of 
land, and three miles away he has ano 

one hundred acres. He carries on 
the \ irious branches of mixed farming with 

September 3, 1872, Mr. Wheeler mar- 
Mary A. Cooper, of Centreville, R.I., a 
liter ol the Rev. John Cooper, who 1 
England to Connecticut, and was for 
many years a manufacturer in Woods' 

,., and afterward became a Methodist 
in. 
Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have had lour chil- 
1: Edna M. was born August 20, 1873, 
uated from Wesleyan Academy, Wil- 
>. Mass., in June, (891, and was mar- 
tober 20, 1896, to Orson C. Pulver, a 
merchant of Hillsdale, N.V. : Ralph ('. was 
horn November 5. 1876, completed his educa- 
tion at the Connecticut Literary Institute, 
Suffield, Conn., and is now in business at 
Mass.; Richard W. was born Maj 
3, 1885, and died March t6, 1888; and Helen 
L. was born August 1 2, 1889. 

In politics Mr. Wheeler is a Democrat. 



AMES F. BUGBEE, a well-known 
merchant oi Lyme, \\ 'as horn in Tol- 
land, Conn., on tlie last day of Janu- 
ary, 1863, son oi A. S. Bugbee and his wile, 
pta Barrows Bugbee. He represents the 
fifth generation of his family in America, his 
dparents having come 
iand when their son, John Bugbee, his 
grandfather, was hut a youth. They 
were industrious people in humble circum- 
stances. John Bugbee was a tailor by trade, 
and lived to he an old man. His son Alan- 
son, a farmer in Tolland County, now retired 
and living in Hartford, was born in Mans- 



. August 25, 1804, and at the age of 
ninety-three is still remarkably well and 
stron- tor bis years, and in possession oi all 
his faculties. He was a man .it 

- in To] land, and at one time hail 
three stores. He met with In through 

indorsement and fire, but in all business was 
thoroughly honest, and would never keep a 
that was not lawfully his own. His 
wife, Abigail Spellman, of Stafford, who died 
in 1SS7, at the age of seventy-nine, was the 
mother of nine children, eight of whom, five 
-oils and three daughters, grew to maturity. 
One ot the sons, Sylvester by name, enlisted 
in the cavalry at eighteen, and had served 
nearly three years in the Civil War, rising 
from the ranks to be Sergeant, when he was 
killed at Wilson's Raid, being then but 
twenty-one. The living children oi Alanson 
Bugbee are: Arthur, of Springfield, M. 
Walter, in Middletown, Conn. : and Mr. 
A. S. Bugbee, of Saybrook, bom in 1832. 

For eight years Mr. James F. Bugbee was 
in business at Silltown in Lyme, in company 
with R. W. Chadwick, the firm being R. W. 
Chadwick & Co., dealers in flour, teed, and 
grain. In [889 the firm sold out, and Mr. 
Bugbee bought the stock and trade of Robert 
eral merchandise store where 
he is now located and carrying on a successful 
trade. Mr. Bit ' is a Master Mason oi 

Pythagoras Lodge, No. 45, ot Lyme, and also 
a member of the 1. « >. ( >. F. In politics he 
is ,1 Democrat. He has been a member oi 
Hoard of Relief, and is one of thi 'men 

of the town. In [895 he was sent as Repre- 

itive to the legislature, and served his 
constituents to their satisfaction and to his 
own credit. Both Mr. and Mrs. are 

members and earnest supporters of the Con- 
gregational church. 

On July 11, [880, Mr. Bugbee was married 



•74 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



to Mary Louise, daughter of Thomas S. and 
Charlotte Augusta (Rogers) Swan. Her 
father, a native of East Haddam, was born in 
[815, and died in 1882; and her mother, a na- 
tive of Lyme, was born in 1824, and died in 
1870. Grandfather Thomas VV. Swan, father 
of Thomas S. , was a man of note in public 
life. His wife was Louisa Emmons, of East 
Haddam. She bore him three sons and three 
daughters. Thomas S. Swan was a farmer in 
Old Lyme, near Laysville, and was very 
prominent in public affairs in the town. He 
served as a Representative in the legislature, 
was Town Clerk for over twenty-five years, 
and was actively interested in educational 
matters. Mr. and Mrs. Swan had five chil- 
dren, of whom four grew to maturity; namely, 
T. Walter, Ada, Helen, and Mary Louise. 
T. Walter Swan, born in 1846, was graduated 
from Yale College in the class of 1869, was 
admitted to the bar in 1871, and died in Flor- 
ida in 1878 of lung trouble. His wife sur- 
vives him, together with a son, T. Walter 
Swan. Jr., in Yale, and Isabel, also a student 
in college. A^a Augusta is a widow, and 
lives at Shelburne Falls, Mass. Helen 
Lizzie was the wife of Austin Perkins, of Nor- 
wich. She died in Kingston, N.Y., in 1890, 
on the 10th of September, at the age of thirty- 
one years. Mary Louise was educated in the 
common schools of Lyme and in Norwich. 
She was married to Mr. Bugbee at the age of 
nineteen, and began her wedded life in this 
town. Mr. and Mrs. Bugbee have one child, 
a daughter Ruth, eleven years of age. 

One of Mrs. Bugbee's great-grandfathers on 
the maternal side was Lynde Lord, born at 
Lyme in 1767. He was a descendant of 
William Lord, who was born in England in 
1623, came to America with his father, 
Thomas Lord, in 1635, and was a compara- 
tively early settler of Saybrook. Lynde Lord 



married Mehitable Marvin, a descendant of 
Reynold Marvin, who came from England 
about the year 1635, it is thought, and died 
in Lyme in 1662. Matilda, daughter of 
Lynde Lord and grandmother of Mrs. Bugbee, 
was born in 1794, and married in 1822 John 
Rogers, a graduate of Yale in the class of 
1815 and a physician. He removed to Ohio 
in 1837, where he died many years later. 
His two children were: Mrs. Bugbee's 
mother; and an older daughter now living in 
Ohio. 




ALTER FISH, one of the progres- 
sive farmers of Groton, was born in 
his present abode, November 22, 
1854, son of William R. and Lydia (Will- 
iams) Fish. He is a descendant of John 
Fish, who settled in Groton, Conn., as early 
as 1655, being one of the first settlers there. 
Captain Samuel Fish, son of John, and the 
next in line of descent, was born in 1656 or 
1657. His name occurs in the patents of 
New London in 1704, the year prior to the 
incorporation of Groton. He was the second 
townsman in Groton on its organization, and 
was re-elected to this position for many years. 
In the French and Indian War he bore a Cap- 
tain's commission. His lands, which must 
have exceeded a thousand acres, were situated 
between the Mystic River and the north-east 
spur of Fort Hill. Near the centre of his es- 
tate was Pequot Hill, between which and the 
river he built his house. His son, Nathan 
Fish, the paternal great-great-grandfather of 
Walter Fish, was a shoemaker by trade. 
After he lost his parents, he was reared to 
manhood on Shelter Island, New York, where 
he learned his trade. He was also a farmer. 
His son Sands followed the same pursuits in 
Mystic, Conn. Simeon, son of Sands and the 
grandfather of Walter Fish, was a ship- 




WALTER FISH. 



BIOOK M'llK'AI. REVIEW 



177 



builder, being one of four who established the 

Field ship-yard. 1 1 is partners were: 

William Clift, who left the sea tn engage in 

mterprise; Nathan S. Fish, his brother; 

William E. Maxson. They began by 

ng fishing smacks. Later they fur- 

ing-vessels for tin- cotton trade, 

clipper ships for the California trade. 

fine craft of their construction 

'he "15. F. Hoxie," which was well known 

e merchant marine service in California. 

ilur Simeon married Kliza, daughter 

Mali Randall, on whose land the sh i p- 

was located. Mr. Randall was an out- 

. ..lid prepared many whaling-vessels for 

Simeon, who was born here in 1797, 

in [861, at the age of sixty-four years. 

Hi- wile, who was six years younger, sin 

him fifl :ars. Their children w 

William R.: Nathan S., of Mystic; and I 

diah Randall Fish, of New London. 

William R. Fish was horn in the village of 

tic, July 17, 1X24. From the time he 

fifteen years of ago he worked on the 

farm, toiling for almost a half-century. This 

farm of one hundred acres is one of the 

tion. In 1 849 William 
married Lydia Williams, ol Ledyard, Conn. 
Her parents were Erastus and Nancy (Hewitt) 
Williams, her father having been the son of 
the third William Williams. She had three 
children — Ida, Mary, and Walter. Ida mar- 
Russell W. Welles at Poquoni 
Bridge, and Mary married Thomas Wolf on 
this farm. The father was a member of the 

hurch from early youth. He di< 
May, 1 Si^ct, in the sixty-sixth year of his 
The mother passed away on October 8, 1S96, 
sixty -seven years old. 'Idle house in which 
they ended their life had been their rcsn 
since it had been erected by the lather in 1 
Walter Fish, after completing his studies at 



the academy, engaged in farming, which he 
follows in an up-to-date manni r. IN- has two 
silos, which were the first built in this sec- 
tion, with a capacity of one hundred and 
seventy-five to d which he fills with 

grown from twelve acres, 1 rom his 

land twelve hundred bushels besides. He has 
the latest and best farming implements, in- 
cluding a portable steam-engine. As a 
breeder and dealer in the superior Brown 
Swiss stock he stands second to none, and 
now keeps thirty head of cattle on his farm. 
On a part of the original farm that he sold, 
many village homes have been erected. The 
many massive and well-built walls surround- 
ing ami dividing the property represent a vast 
amount of labor and expense. I or se 1 

- he has been the president of the Brown 
Swiss Breeders' Association of America, in 
which capacity his father served for twelve 
years or more before his death. 

In 1SS4 Mr. Fish married Eunice Avery, 
of Preston, Conn. They have a comely and 
interesting daughter, Fanny Ella, who was 
born November 14, 1888. Mr. Fish is a 
member of the Baptist church. Mrs. Fish is 
a daughter of Erasmus and Eunice (Williams) 
Avery, both of whom reside near her. She 
is a descendant of Christopher Avery, who, 
born in England in 1590, lived in Gloucester, 
Mass., in 1644, officiating as Selectman. 
1 1 is son James, born in England in 1 1 
married Joanna Greenslade in Boston. The 
line oi descent comes throu istopher; 

i; Jam d) ; John ; John, Jr. : and 

Robert, the grandfather of Mrs. Fish. 
Through the Avery family she traces her an- 
cestry to Elder Brewster, of the "Mayflower." 
In their possession is a fine specimen ot the 
tall, old-fashioned clock, which was built by 
John Avery, her tndfather, ami is re- 

garded as an heirloom of the Williams family. 



i 7 8 



IWOCRAPHICAL REVIEW 




ARRIET HUBBARD, a respected 
resident of Stonington, is a daughter 
of George and Sally (Swan) Hub- 
bard, both of this town, and was born Septem- 
ber 2, 1812, Her grandfather, John Hub- 
bard, was one of three brothers, young men of 
means, who came to this country from Eng- 
land, and spent here the rest of their lives. 
The grandfather settled in Windsor County, 
near Hartford, Conn., where he died when 
over eighty years of age. His wife was in 
maidenhood Susanna Mills; and they had 
three sons — John, Job, and George. George 
Hubbard, father of Miss Harriet Hubbard, 
was born in Windsor County, July 23, 1780. 
Entering Yale College, he subsequently took 
a degree there; and in 1S07 he came to Ston- 
ington, where he practised law for many 
years, becoming one of the leading lawyers in 
the town. He had a financial interest in 
shipping, and was also the founder of the 
Stonington Bank. A loyal citizen, interested 
in public affairs, he was elected Representa- 
tive of the town for several terms, serving 
both in the upper and lower house. He 
was also a Master Mason. In 1809 he mar- 
ried Mrs. Sally Swan Phelps, widow of 
Dr. Charles Phelps, who died in 1800, leav- 
ing her with four children, three sons and one 
daughter, none of whom lived beyond middle 
life. She was born October 5, 1772, and died 
in 1 84 1, at sixty-nine years of age. Mr. 
Hubbard died in 1853, his death being widely 
regretted. He left his daughter a fair com- 
petency. He and his wife were the parents of 
three children — George, Harriet, and one 
that died in infancy. George, born in 18 10, 
was for many years Collector of the Port at 
Stonington. Miss Harriet Hubbard received 
a liberal education, attending schools in Ston- 
ington, New Haven, and New York. After 
finishing her studies, she returned to her na- 



tive village, where she has since resided, 
doing much good in a quiet, unobtrusive way. 
She is an earnest worker in the Second Con- 
gregational Church, and is the last surviving 
member of her family. 




ATTHEW STILLMAN CLARK, 
a well-known and esteemed citizen 



of Salem, was born in the town 
of Westerly, R.I., January 13, 18 16, eighty- 
two years ago, son of Augustus and Ruth 
(Barker) Clark. The family is noted for its 
longevity. Grandfather Clark was an octo- 
genarian, and his wife also lived to be very 
old. Mr. Clark's mother, who was a Barker, 
of Newport, R.I., died at the age of eighty- 
five. She had nine children, six of whom 
lived to maturity. George Barker Clark went 
to Jasper County, Illinois, forty years ago. 

Matthew Clark received his education partly 
in Westerly, R.I., and partly in Franklin, 
New London County, to which place his par- 
ents removed when he was about sixteen years 
old. He spent two years, 1855 and 1856, in 
Poquonock, where he was engaged in the sash 
and blind industry. In 1848 he married Har- 
riet M. Pratt, daughter of Joshua and Hannah 
A. (Brown) Pratt, of Lyme. Her maternal 
grandfather, Deacon William Brown, of Gro- 
ton, was a soldier in the Revolution. Her 
father, Joshua Pratt, who was a blacksmith by 
trade, served as a Drum Major in the War of 
18 1 2. He settled in Salem when a young 
man, and married first Abby Way, who died 
leaving two daughters. By his second wife 
also he had two daughters, but Mrs. Clark is 
now the only surviving member of the family. 
Mr. Pratt died at the age of eighty-three 
years. His widow passed away at their old 
home about 1879, aged eighty-seven. 

Mr. and Mrs. Clark lost one son at the age 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



■79 



of eleven months, Arthur Henry by name. 
They have three living children, namely: 
Joshua P., who conducts the farm, saw-mill, 
grist-mill, and shingle-mill, and who is mar- 
ried and has one son, Charles Stillman Clark, 
now live years oi age; Thomas S., also a resi- 
dent of this place, and married; and Ora !•'., 
wife of Nathaniel Clark, and a resident of 
this town. Mr. Nathaniel Clark is a relative 
of the family by marriage only. 

The original owner of the Clark homestead 
was I.avine Stoddard, who built the dam and 
the grist-mill in [8l2. The Clarks settled 
hen forty years ago, the farm then compris- 
ing fifty-four acres of land, with the saw and 
grist mill. Mr. Clark elected a shingle-mill 
a few years later, which has proved profitable 
to him and ol benefit to the community. He 
made one hundred and fifty thousand shingles 
in one year, which he sold at two and one-half 
dollars per thousand. During the same year he 
ground eleven thousand bushels of grain,, and 
his saw-mill netted him two hundred dollars. 
The property has doubled in value since it 
came into his possession. Mr. Clark, in 
spite of his eighty-two years, is a hale and ac- 
tive man, and retains all his faculties unim- 
paired. He lias not even been obliged to use 
eye-glasses, now so generally worn: and to 
his intellectual powers the years have only 
added strength. 



-*-»**-* - 




Benjamin franklin Will- 
iams, a prosperous farmer of Ston- 
ington, was born in Ledyard, 
Conn., September 7, 1841. son of Seth and 
Lucy A. (Noyes) Williams. The grand- 
father, Seth Williams, was an industrious 
farmer of Ledyard. who had six children, 
three sons and three daughters. The father, 
Seth Williams, second, born in Ledyard in 



1S01, married Lucy Ann, a daughter of Jo- 
seph and Zerviah (Wheeler) Noyes. Her 
mother was a daughter of Paul Wheel. 
in in of wealth and note in his time. Mr. 
and Mrs. Williams had ten children: Seth 
N. ; Lucy Ann; Eunice Servla<^Harriet ; 
Newel Gurdon; Joseph Warren; William 
Henry; Benjamin Franklin, the subject of 
this sketch; Abbie Eliza; and Orrin Merwin. 
Eight of them are still living. 

Benjamin Williams attended the district 
schools until he was fifteen years old, when 
he was sent to a boarding-school in East 
Greenwich, where he studied three years. He 
then entered Phillips Academy at Andover, 
Mass., where he finished the usual course of 
study. Returning to Ledyard, at the begin- 
ning of the Civil War he was one of the first 
volunteers, but was rejected on account ol 
rheumatism. He then turned his attention to 
farming as his chief occupation, although 
later in life he has done much business as ad- 
ministrator of estates and conservator of the 
unfortunate and as guardian of minors. He 
has taken ,1 prominent part in public affairs. 
Ho served as School Visitor for nine years, 
during which time he was clerk of the School 
Board, and for sixteen years was District 
Committeeman. Although he is a firm Re- 
publican and the town of Stonington is Dem- 
ocratic by a large majority, he is now serving 
his eighth consecutive year as Selectman, four 
of which years he was First Selectman. Mr. 
Williams took an active part in securing for 
Mystic the new velvel pi. mi oi the Rossie 
Brothers, of Germany; and, when the Mystic 
Industrial Company was formed in the winter 
of 1897, he was chosen one of the directors, 
and was elected its first president. He joined 
the First Congregational Church in Stoning- 
ton in [866, and has since been a member of 
the Society Committee. He has been a 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Deacon since October 4, 1868, and superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school since 1874. 
Since 1888 he has been treasurer of the so- 
ciety and of the church fund, amounting to 
twenty-five thousand dollars. He lives on a 
farm which was settled by his father-in-law 
thirty-five years ago, and carries on a large 
dairy. 

Mr. Williams was married February 4, 
1S64, to Ann Louisa, a daughter of Nathan 
S. and Nancy (Dennison) Noyes, of Stoning- 
ton. They have had eight children, only 
three of whom are living. Nathan, the eld- 
est, died in 1892, leaving a widow; Everett 
and Joseph died in infancy; George passed 
away in 1876, at the age of seven years; 
Eliza Dennison died in 1880, at the age of 
five; Frank Lincoln, a commercial traveller, 
is unmarried, and makes his home with his 
parents; Annie Louise is the wife of Noyes 
Palmer; and Clarence Henry is a commercial 
traveller. 




jAPTAIN JAMES F. SMITH, the 
proprietor of a steamboat line running 
- between New London and the east 
end of Long Island, and a member of the New 
London Board of Aldermen, was born in this 
city, December 17, 1837, son of Franklin F. 
and Mary C. (Chapel) Smith. He comes of 
a family of sailors, and is the sixth James 
Smith, each succeeding generation giving to 
the world one of that name. His great-grand- 
father and grandfather, both named James, 
were seafaring men. The grandfather, who 
was lost from a privateer when about forty- 
four years of age, married a Miss Hempstead, 
who lived to be quite old. They reared six 
sons and five daughters of whom all but one 
nearly reached the age of eighty. Only one 
of this family is living to-day. Five of the 
sons — Parker, Robert, James, Franklin F. , 



and Richard — were successful ship-masters 
in the whaling trade. The other, John, was 
cut off in the flower of young manhood, being 
lost from the topsail-yard of his vessel off the 
Cape of Good Hope. 

Franklin F. Smith was born in New Lon- 
don about 1800. He followed the sea during 
a large part of his life as the captain of a 
whaler. For some time he was a member of 
the firm of Perkins & Smith, whaling agents; 
and at one time he was quite wealthy. He 
died in 1872; and his wife died about five 
years later, in the seventy-fifth year of her 
age. Five children were born to this couple, 
four of whom grew to maturity. The latter 
are: James F., the subject of this sketch; 
Frank, a seafaring man ; and Chelsea and 
Elias P., who reside in this city. 

James F. Smith acquired his education in a 
district school of New London and at East- 
hampton (Mass.) Institute. His first voy- 
age was made to California with his father, 
who was at that time the captain of the ship 
"■Charles Carroll"; and he first sailed as a 
hired seaman on the ship "Crystal Palace" 
in 1855, receiving five dollars a month for 
seventeen months. In 1865 he was offered a 
captain's command, but did not undertake 
such responsibility until 1868, when he took 
charge of the bark " Peru." He was cap- 
tain of the "Peru" for two years. Next he 
took command of the "Paiea," which name 
signifies the flag of Hawaii. On this vessel 
he had a unique experience. Having lost her 
rudder during a typhoon in latitude forty- 
eight north, longitude one hundred and 
seventy-eight east, the captain made and 
shipped a temporary one, with which he suc- 
ceeded in reaching Llonolulu Harbor in forty- 
eight days. From 1855 to 1868 he was away 
from home, most of the time on the high 
seas, successfully weathering the dangers of 




JAMES F. SMITH. 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIKW 



•S3 



arctic icebergs and tropical storms. In [871 
he established a home of his own on the land; 
and on July 4, 1875, he started his steamboat 
line hum New London to the east end oi 
Long Island. He made many friends in his 
travels. Since 1882 he has resided at 1 
Granite Street, formerly the home of his 
mule and aunt, Captain James Smith and 
sister, who died he: e. 

In 1 87 1 the Captain was united in marriage 
with Miss Sarah 1!. Ward, daughter of Cap- 
tain John L. Ward. Of their three children 
one is living. This is a promising boy of fif- 
teen years, the seventh James Smith. I 
tain Smith takes an active interest in tin- city 
government. Elected Alderman on the Re- 
publican ticket, he has served in the City 
Council for five years. A veteran Mason, he- 
has taken thirty-two degrees. lie is Last 
Grand of Mohegan Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; ex- 
State Councillor in the Order of United 
American Mechanics; Last Chancellor of 
Mistuxct Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of 
Mystic; Great Sachem in the Improved Order 
of Red Men; and he belongs to the Daughters 
ol Liberty, the Daughters of Rebecca, and the 
Daughters of Pocahontas. For some time he 
has been the vice-president of the Veteran 
Firemen's Association of New London. 



f STeORGE OSCAR JACKSON, of Col- 
\J5 I Chester, the present High Sheriff of 
New London Count)', was born Jan- 
uary [3, 1N54, in South Coventry, Tolland 
County, son of John and Mary (Scott) Jack- 
son. Andrew Jackson, the father of John, 
was a native of Scotland. He came to this 
country when a young man, and settled in 
New York. By trade he was a builder and 
contractor. He married Margaret Snow, a 
native of the north of Ireland. Thirteen 



children were born to them, two of whom died 
in childhood. Six sons and live daughters 
1 eai lied maturity. 

John Jackson was married about 1852 in 
Mansfield, Conn., to Mrs. Mary Scott Perry, 
of Windham, Conn., daughter of William 
Scott. She is a great-grand-daughter of the 
William Scott who came over in the English 
army, subsequently took up the cause of the 
patriots, and fought against the British in the 
Revolution and in the War of 1812. By her 
marriage with Ransom Perry, who died in the 
prime of life, she had two children, one of 
whom, P. G. Perry, resides in South Wind- 
ham. Conn. Two children were born of her 
union with John Jackson — George Oscar and 
Lydia. The latter is now the wife of Charles 
Bui lard, and lives at Big Stone City, S. Dak. 
The father died at Colchester Springs in 
18S8. Besides carrying on a farm, he con- 
ducted a tan-yard, which he started in Marl- 
1, Conn., in 1858. The mother, now 
seventy-nine years of age, but still very ac- 
tive, is living with the son. 

George O. Jackson spent his boyhood with 
his parents, assisting his father on the farm 
and in the tan-yard. His education was ac- 
quired in the old red brick school-house, 
which is still standing. In 1877 he left 
home and went to the Black Hills, where for 
a twelvemonth or more he led an adventurous 
life, engaging in the hotel and mining busi- 
ness and as a mounted guard for the express 
company. He then returned home, and in 
July, 1879, went to Colchester, and estab- 
lished himself in the manufacture of har- 
s. Here he did a prosperous business 
up to the time that he sold out, in January, 
1895. For thirteen years he has been a 
Deputy Sheriff; and on April I, 1896, he 
appointed to fill the unexpired term of High 
Sheriff Frank Hawkes, deceased. At present, 



iS 4 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



besides attending to bis official duties, he is 
engaged in developing a fruit farm in the 
village. 

On Thanksgiving Day, 1879, Mr. Jackson 
was united in marriage with Miss Hattie F. 
Crocker, of Colchester. They lost a son at 
the age of eight, and three others younger. 
Three of the deceased died of scarlet fever 
within a few days of each other. Their living 
children are: Lila, aged twelve; Alice, 
seven; Agnes, five; Ruth, three; and Myron, 
two years old. The family reside on one of 
his south village places. In politics Sheriff 
Jackson is a Republican, and he has served 
very acceptably for twelve years on the party's 
State Central Committee. He was a Con- 
stable for many years, and was also Tax Col- 
lector and Bailiff for the borough. In the 
Masonic fraternity he is a Knight Templar 
Mason, and he belongs to the order of the 
Knights of Pythias. 



(S I HEOPHILUS BROWN, a retired sea 
^]| captain, who is now engaged in farm- 
ing in Groton, New London County, 
Conn., was born in that part of the town 
which is now Ledyard, on January 12, 1824. 
I lis parents were Aaron and Mary (Wilcox) 
Brown, both of old Colonial stock of English 
origin. Nathaniel Brown, the earliest known 
progenitor of Captain Brown on his father's 
side, married a Miss Haines in Groton, Conn., 
in 171 5. Their son Comfort was the father 
of Nathaniel, second, the father of Aaron 
Blown. Nathaniel Brown, second, was one 
of the minute-men during the Revolutionary 
War. II is wife, whose maiden name was 
Deborah Morgan, was a native of Groton. 
They reared two sons Nathaniel, third, and 
Aai'": and seven daughters, all but one 
of whom had families. Grandfather Brown 



lived to be threescore years and ten. His 
property at his death was inventoried at 
twenty-five hundred dollars. His widow, who 
survived him twelve years, died in 1830, at 
the age of eighty. 

Aaron Brown engaged in farming on part 
of the original home farm. He married, in 
1807, Mary Wilcox, of Groton. They reared 
seven children — Robert, Eleazer, Sabrina, 
Allura, Laura, Theophilus, and Jeffrey. 
Robert Brown, who was a master mariner, 
went to Seattle, Wash., in 1873, and died 
there in 1894, at the age of eighty-five. He 
and his wife reared a family. Eleazer Brown 
died single, at the age of twenty-two years. 
Sabrina married Jeremiah Wilcox, had two 
daughters, and died in 1881. Allura died at 
the age of eighteen. Laura married Thomas 
Lanphere, and died, she and her only child, 
an infant, being buried in the same coffin. 
Jeffrey died in 1868 on the old farm, at the 
age of forty-two, leaving two sons and three 
daughters. The father, Aaron Brown, died 
in 1 871, and the mother, Mary Wilcox 
Brown, in 1877, at the age of eighty-four. 
Their remains rest in the Brown burial-ground 
with several generations of their family, Com- 
fort, the donor of the ground, being its first 
occupant. 

Theophilus Brown was reared on the home- 
stead farm, and there remained until he was 
twenty years of age, receiving a limited dis- 
trict-school education. In 1843 he shipped 
as sailor before the mast, with Captain Jona- 
than Nash, on the bark " Vermont," of Mys- 
tic. They went round Cape Horn to the 
Pacific, and were gone twenty-nine months, 
making a very poor voyage as to profits, oil at 
the time of their return being only twenty- 
five cents a gallon, and bone but twenty-seven 
cents a pound, his entire earnings amounting 
to but one hundred and twelve dollars. His 






BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



i8 S 



second voyage on the " Ven it" was still 

nunc disastrous, the vessel and her cargo 
being cast away on Amsterdam Island, sev- 
enty-eight degrees east longitude, and forty- 
one degrees south latitude, the crew being 
rescued by the whalers. For sixteen years 
he was a master mariner, for several years 
sailing the "Elector." In [869 Captain 
Brown settled down on a small farm in Gro- 
ton, where he now lives. Mis tine, large 
mansion-house was built by a Mr. Perry, who 
died shortly after it was finished. Captain 
Brown lias expended thousands of dollars in 
clearing and cultivating the grounds, beautify- 
ing the place by setting "at shade, fruit, and 
ornamental trees and shrubbery. The house 
can be seen from New London and other 
points; and it affords a commanding view of 
the majestic Thames River flowing by, oppo- 
site Fort Trumbull and the lovely banks and 
lawns of Pequot anil New London. As the 
follows the man\- sailing and steam craft 
gliding out of the harbor and river into Long 
Island Sound, it sees in the distance Fisher's 
Island and other smaller islands, apparently 
floating on the waters. 

Captain Brown was first married in 1857 
to Julia llallet, a native of that part of 
Groton now known as Ledyard. She died, 
i less, two years later, of consumption. 
In 1, SOS, after leaving the sea, he was united 
in marriage with Mary Louisa Geer, daughter 
of Isaac and Experience (Avery) Geer. Lap- 
tain and Mrs. Brown have two daughters, 
namely: Alice Experience, a graduate of 
Mount Holyoke College in Smith Hadley, 
Mass., now living at home; and Clara Louise, 
who was graduated from Williams Memorial 
High School in New London in [895, subse- 
quently taking a post-graduate course. Mrs. 
Brown was one ol a family "I tour children. 
1 >ne brother and one sister have passed away. 



Isaac Geer, her surviving brother, is now 
living on the old Geer homestead; and she 
has nieces and nephews of education and re- 
finement, who are filling positions of trust 
and honor. 




RS. FANNY A. WILCOX, widow 

of the late Leander Wilcox, of the 

town of Stonington, is a daughter 

of Elias and Frances (Wilcox) Davis, and was 
bom in Quinebaug, New London County, 
Conn., May 10, I 8 p i, 

Her father, Elias Davis, a son of Peter 
Davis, was born in Lisbon, Conn., and is now 
living in, Stonington, not far from the resi- 
dence of his daughter, Mrs. Wilcox. He was 
twice married. His first wife, Frances A., 
a daughter of Lodwick Wilcox, died August 
6, 1848, leaving three children, including 
Fanny A., the subject ol this sketch, then an 
infant. The other two were Elias N. and 
Benjamin F. I. Elias X., who was a volun- 
teer in Company C, Twenty-first Connecticut 
Regiment, enlisting in 1862 and serving six- 
months, died in a hospital in Newport News, 
Va., in March, 1865, when but nineteen 
years of age. Benjamin F. I. Davis is now 
a resident of Westerly, K.I. Mr. Davis's 
second wife was in maidenhood Julia Ann 
Wilcox. Five, daughters and one son, the 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Davis, are now 
living. 

fanny A. Davis received her education in 
the common schools. Her marriage to Lean- 
der Wilcox occurred January t, 1865. She 
began her married life in the house in which 
she now lives, being at that time but eighteen 
years old, and her husband twenty. Mr. 
Wilcox was a son of Elias Wilcox, a retired 
fisherman of Stonington, who was born in that 
town April 3, 1815. He was engaged in the 



iS6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



fish business, at first in company with others; 
but for some years before his death he con- 
ducted business alone. He was a consistent 
member of the Union Baptist Church of Mys- 
tic, in which he was also a Deacon. His 
death, which occurred December 22, 1895, 
was most tranquil, his last words being, 
"How beautiful! how beautiful!" He was 
a much respected citizen, and his loss was 
widely regretted. 

Mrs. Wilcox has one child, Ella May, who 
now resides with her mother, and is a student 
at the Mystic High School. Further infor- 
mation in regard to the family may be found 
in the sketch of Captain Elias F. Wilcox, 
published elsewhere in this volume. 



&' EORGE LOVETT GRISWOLD, 
Town, City, and School Tax Collector 
of Norwich, Conn., is a native of 
Willimantic, this State. He was born Feb- 
ruary 6, 1858, son of George H. and Lucinda 
(Cheney) Griswold. His paternal grand- 
father, Henry Griswold, died early, leaving 
this one son, George H., above named, who 
was reared by his grandfather Paige. 

George H. Griswold was born in the town 
of Windham, Conn., in 1826. He became a 
skilled machinist, and during the Civil War 
he worked in the Eagle Armory, making guns. 
His last years were spent here in Norwich, 
where he died in 1868. Lucinda Cheney, to 
whom he was married in the year 1845, was 
born in Windham, and was a daughter of Jo- 
seph H. and Abigail (Pabcock) Cheney. 

George Lovctt Griswold is the fifth child 
and second son of the three sons and five 
daughters born to his parents. All of these 
children except Henry, who died when but 
two years old, grew to adult age. The living- 
are : Ellen A., wife of William P. Potter, Jr., 



residing at 60 Prospect Street, Norwich; Jo- 
sephine A., wife of Ripley J. Ramage, of New 
Britain, Conn. ; George Lovett, of Norwich, 
direct subject of this sketch; and Frank H. 
and Clara E., who reside with their mother in 
this city. 

George Lovett Griswold, after obtaining a 
common-school education, learned the carpen- 
ter's trade. He then worked at type-wood 
dressing for three years, and subsequently did 
a contracting business in the manufacture of 
gun-stocks. In the fall of 1893 he was 
elected Town Tax Collector; in June, 1894, 
he was chosen City Collector; and in Septem- 
ber of that year School Tax Collector. In 
these several capacities he is now serving. 

On May 4, 1894, Mr. Griswold was mar- 
ried to Miss Angie L. Thompson, daughter of 
Charles Thompson, of Willimantic. Their 
home has been brightened by the birth of a 
daughter, Gladys L. , born March 23, 1896. 

Mr. Griswold is prominent in fraternal 
circles, being a member of Franklin Council, 
No. 3, R. & S. M. ; Past Sachem of Mohican 
Tribe, No. 4, Improved Order of Red Men; a 
member of the Republican Club; the Arca- 
num Club; the R. N. E. Wheel Club; Gardner 
Lodge, No. 46, Knights of Pythias, of Nor- 
wich; Captain of C. A. Russell Company, Uni- 
form Ranks, K. P. ; also a member of Uncas 
Lodge, No. 11, I. O. O. F., of Norwich; and 
a member of Citizens' Corps of Sedgwick 
Post, No. 1, G A. R. He served nearly 
eight years in the Volunteer Fire Department, 
and afterward organized the Veteran Firemen's 
Association, of which he is treasurer. For 
eleven years he served in the militia, 
and at the time he resigned he was Captain 
of Company C, Third Regiment. He resides 
at 103 River Avenue, Laurel Hill, having 
bought the estate and settled here in October, 
1895. 




G] ORGE L. GRISWOLD. 



I 



I'.IOCR AI'IIICAL REVIEW 



1S9 




RRIN EUGENE MINER, M.D., a 
physician of Noank, Conn., was born 
in North Stonington, Conn., Sep- 
tember 29, 1X54. He is the son of Den i son 
W. and Clarissa M. (Park) Miner. Thomas 
Miner, the progenitor of this family, was 
born in Chew Magna, in the county of Somer- 
set, England, April 23, 160S, and emigrated 
to this country with Governor Winthrop and 
family in 1630, in the good ship "Arbella," 
arrived in Salem, Mass., June 14, 1630, and 
settled in Charlestown, Mass. On April 20, 
1633, he married Grace, daughter of Walter 
Palmer, and by this union had twelve chil- 
dren. In 1 63 5 he removed to Ilingham, 
Mass. ; and in 1646 he came to Connecticut, 
and settled in New London. llis seventh 
son, Manasseh, was the first male child born 
in that town. In 1653 he removed to Stoning- 
ton ( Wequetequoc) , thence to Ouiambog in 
the same town, where he spent the remainder 
1 if his days, and held about every office in the 
gilt of his townsmen, being elected Deputy 
Magistrate, Selectman, Chief Military Offi- 
cer, and also Town Clerk for a number of 
;; and it is said his peculiar style of 
writing forms one of the curiosities of the 
Stonington records. Dying on October 23, 
1690, aged eighty-three years, he was buried 
at Wequetequoc, in Stonington. 

Over his grave lies a common pasture stone, 
about six feet long, the top ten inches wide 
and about one foot thick, having the following 
inscription, " Here I. yes the body of Livten- 
ant Thomas Miner, aged .S3, departed [690. " 
I he fifth son, Ephraim, is buried at Taug- 
wmik, in Stonington; and over the grave is 
a beautiful ami elaborately carved table stone 
representing the Miner coat of arms and other 
devices. Near the grave of Thomas are two 
more finely wrought table stones, which mark 
the resting-place of Deacon Manasseh (sev- 



enth son) and grandson Deacon Th< 
Miner, each of these stones having engraved 
upon it the Miner coat of arms. This coat 
of arms was conferred on Henry Miner, of 
Chew, county of Somerset, England, by Ed- 
ward III., in 1339, for valorous services ren- 
dered the king during the French war about 
that time. The original document was pre- 
served by his descendants to the sixth genera- 
tion — that is, to the time of Asa Miner, 
and was by him deposited with the Connecti- 
cut Historical Society for preservation, at 
Hartford, Conn. The following certificate is 
appended to the original document: "This 
Coat of the Miners of Chew, I attest to be 
entered at Bath in Somersett, by Clarencieux, 
the 4th of King James the first, which visita- 
tion is in custody of me 1606, Alex: Cun- 
ningham. " 

Isaac Miner, grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, was a farmer of Stonington, 
where he remained during his life. He mar- 
ried Keturah Frown, of North Stonington; 
and they had eight children — four daughters 
and four sons, all of whom grew up and had 
families. Isaac Miner died thirty years be- 
fore his wife, who lived to the advanced age 
of ninety years. 

Their son, Denison W. Miner, the father 
named above, was born in Stonington in 1808. 
He was a well-to-do farmer, and he held some 
offices in the town. He married Clarissa M. 
Park, daughter of Israel P. Park, in May, 
1S32, and was the father of five children, as 
follows: Orrin Eugene, Clarissa, Elmina, 
Fannie, and Irving W. Clarissa, the second- 
born, is the wife of Elias 11. Miner, a second 
cousin. They live at Taugwonk. Elmina 
Miner, the second daughter, died in infancy; 
and Fannie, the third, died at the age "I six- 
teen years. Irving W. Miner, the younger 
son, is at present living in Westerly, R.I. 



IQO 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Their father, Isaac Miner, died in 1886; and 
their mother died December 29, 1897, aged 
eighty-three years. 

Orrin Eugene Miner, the eldest born of 
the family, attended the East Greenwich 
Academy in his youth, and prepared for 
Brown University, but changed his plans, and 
entered the University of New York City in 
1855, graduating in 1858, in a class of five 
hundred, receiving a certificate of honor in 
addition to his diploma. He settled soon 
after in his present home, and erected his 
drug store. He has a practice in Noank and 
the adjoining villages, and also carries on 
a successful business as a druggist. He has 
invested considerably in real estate, and owns 
a number of tenements. Dr. Miner is a mem- 
ber of the American Pharmacy Association, 
and of the Connecticut Association, and is an 
ex-Fellow of the Connecticut Medical Asso- 
ciation. He is also a Master Mason. In 
politics he is a Republican, having been a 
voter with that party since its formation. 
He has been Notary Public, for over thirty 
years was Medical Examiner, and has also 
held the office of Postmaster for seventeen 
years. He has resigned the duties of Coro- 
ner, which he performed for some years. 

On May 19, 1859, he married Abbic J. 
Latham, daughter of James A. Latham. The 
Doctor and his wife have two children — 
Orrin E. and Fannie M. Orrin E. Miner, 
Jr., resides in New London, being employed as 
mail clerk from New London to Boston. He 
is also his father's partner in the drug busi- 
ness. He married Anna Libby, of Noank. 
Fannie M. Miner was graduated from Mount 
Holyoke College in 1891, and is now living at 
home with her father and mother. Dr. Miner 
is at present the oldest physician in his vicin- 
ity. Descended from an honorable line of 
ancestry, an eminently useful and worthy citi- 




zen, he has the respect of his fellow-towns- 
people. 

ORENZO DOW BEEBE, one of the 
oldest citizens of New London, re- 
siding at 86 Shaw Street, where 
he has lived for nearly half a century, was 
born in the town of Waterford, three miles 
from New London, on the 6th of March, 1809. 
His father, Benjamin Beebe, who was born 
in the same town in 1775, died in 1813, 
leaving his wife, Abigail Douglas Beebe 
and six sons and two daughters. Of his chil- 
dren, Lorenzo D., the fourth-born, is the only 
survivor. One of the sons, Dyer Beebe, who 
died in middle age, before the war, left a 
daughter, who is now living. The mother 
died November 23, 1840, and was buried in 
Cedar Grove Cemetery. 

Lorenzo Dow Beebe was named after the 
celebrated Lorenzo Dow, whom his mother 
greatly admired. When a lad, he attended 
the district school in Waterford, which at 
that time offered comparatively few advan- 
tages to the pupils. When twelve years old 
he was working out on farms in the neighbor- 
hood. At fourteen he came here to learn the 
trade of tanner with James Edgerton. After 
serving three years, in accordance with the 
good, old-fashioned custom, receiving but 
slender wages, he worked at tanning as a 
journeyman for a number of years. 

In 1833 Mr. Beebe was married to Nancy 
Daniels, of Waterford, a daughter of Nathan 
and Nancy (Chappell) Daniels. Mrs. Beebe's 
mother was daughter of Peter Chappell. Air. 
and Mrs. Beebe have had nine children, of 
whom six are living. A son and a daughter 
died in infancy. Horace Beebe, who was 
always in delicate health, died, aged twenty- 
six. The remaining children are: Ellen 
Edgerton Beebe, a spinster, who lives at 







J 


\ 

r ^ v,. 

Ik 


1 






1 *"* 








i 



WILLIAM P. BINDLOSS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



>93 



home, and is in frail health; Nathan B., for- 
merly a mariner, now a painter in this city, 
who has one son, Horace W. Beebe, a rising 
musician; Cordelia A., unmarried, who was a 
very successful and popular school teacher, 
and has devoted herself to the care of her aged 
father and invalid sister since 18S7; Eliza- 
beth S. , who married John N. Brown, a car- 
riage-maker of this city, who died October 16, 
1897; Mary L., who is the wife of Alanson 
Beckwith, of this city; and Henry N., a sales- 
man in the refrigerator business, who has 
three children - Leburton, Bessie, and May. 
Mr. Beebe has six grandchildren. He is a 
stanch Republican, and has taken an active 
interest in city affairs. For several years he 
was Street Commissioner, and he was seen on 
the streets with his oxen for man)' years. He 
was the first man to light the street lamps in 
New London. Moth he and his wife have 
been active members of the Methodist Protes- 
tant church. Although bowed with age, he 
is still young in feeling, and is active about 
his home, caring for his farm animals and 
still in possession of all his faculties. He 
thinks and works well, appreciates fun as well 
as some of bis grandchildren, and it is the 
hope of his friends that he may be spared, if 
not longer, to round out a full century of 
honored days. 

ILLIAM PARR BINDLOSS, coal 
merchant of Stonington, Conn., 
who was for some years in the coal 
business with the late J. N. Hancox, was born 
in the adjoining town of Groton, this State, 
January 10, 1854. He is a sun of William 
and Mary Ellen (Park) Bindloss. 

His paternal grandfather, William Bind- 
loss, Sr. , born in 1 794, a native of Kendal, 
Westmorelandshire, England, was a son of 
Philip Bindloss and a brother of Robert Bind- 




loss. A cousin, William Bindloss, was Mayor 
of Kendal when he died, and left of his mill- 
ions a fine endowment, including city water- 
works, a city hall with chime bells, and the 
revenue from his castle. Grandfather Bind- 
loss came to America about the year [846, 
accompanied by his wife and five of their 
eight children, two or more being already 
here. He was very social and generous, and 
spent his time chiefly as a gentleman of lei- 
sure. He died in the town (if Waterford in 
[864, aged sixty-nine. His wife was Mar- 
garet Palmer, daughter of Thomas Palmer. 
Eight of their ten children are still living, the 
youngest being sixty-three years of age and 
the eldest seventy-five. 

William Bindloss, Jr., the second child and 
eldest son, was bom in Kendal, Westmore- 
landshire, England, July 22, 1824. In the 
spring of 1844 he left Liverpool fur New York 
City on the " Elizabeth Denison, " a sailing- 
vessel, and was thirty days on the voyage. 
His younger brother, Philip George, who now 
lives in New London, came with him. Before 
leaving England William had served a five 
years' apprenticeship at the butcher's trade in 
Liverpool, receiving sixty cents per week to 
start with. After coming to Connecticut, he 
worked for seven years as a cooper in Mystic, 
and subsequently engaged as a ship-carpenter, 
first with Irons & Grinnell, then with Charles 
Mai lory, and later with the Greenmans, fol- 
lowing the business for five years all together. 
In January, 1854, forty-four years ago, he 
bought his little farm of ten acres and mill 
site, paying fifteen hundred dollars. The 
water-power was the little spring brook on 
which his wife's grandfather Parks built 
a dam as early as 1750. Mr. Bindloss 
repaired the old dam, and put up a new 
mill, which is still running; and in 1868 
he built his residence and barn. Eor 



194 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



forty years, up to 1896, he gave his personal 
attention to the running of the mill, which 
has now passed into the management of a son, 
Frank Miner Bindloss. 

The marriage of William Bindloss and 
Mary Ellen Parks was solemnized on February 
27, 1852. She is a daughter of William 
Parks and a grand-daughter of Joseph Parks, 
spoken of above, who was lost at sea in the 
memorable Christmas storm, while out in 
Southern waters on a fishing trip. Her father 
died of yellow fever in 183S, in Key West, 
where he was engaged in mercantile business; 
and her widowed mother, whose maiden name 
was Catherine Mitchell, was left with six- 
children. She now lives with Mrs. Bindloss, 
and, though ninety-three years of age, is re- 
markably well preserved, with hearing un- 
did led and eyesight so good that she can 
thread her needle without the aid of glasses. 
When but ten years old, she began to learn 
tailoring. At eleven she cut and made a pair 
of trousers for her father; and, during the 
eighty years that have followed, her skilful 
fingers have fashioned a great number and 
variety of garments for both men and women. 
She was married at twenty-four, in 1828. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bindloss have had eleven 
children; and seven, four sons and three 
daughters, are living. Four sons have died — 
three in infancy, and Roswell at the age of 
twelve. Those who reached maturity are: 
William Park, the special subject of this bio- 
graphical sketch; Julia Ellen, wife of James 
W. Pollock, a nurseryman living in .Mystic, 
who has one son; Catherine, wife of Oliver 
Braman, of Newport, R. I., who has a daugh- 
ter; Austin Palmer Bindloss, also living in 
Newport, who has a daughter; Dudley, a 
in by trade, who is unmarried and lives at 
the parental home; Margaret Ann and Frank 
Miner, also living at home, the latter having 



charge of the mill. Mr. Bindloss is now 
retired from the active cares of business life. 
He began with small means, and was depend- 
ent upon his own resources until, in 1863, he 
received a small legacy from one of the family 
across the water. He. has been a man of un- 
usual physical endurance, and his life has 
been a very active one. In political views he 
is a Democrat and an ardent advocate of the 
free trade policy. 

William Park Bindloss, the elder of the four 
brothers, completed his education in Mystic 
High School. At fourteen years of age he 
began working on a farm, and continued thus 
employed for some years. Later he learned 
the mason's trade, following that about fifteen 
years. He has been in the coal business on 
his own account since January, 1897. 

Mr. Bindloss and Miss Elizabeth Esther 
Bickley were united in marriage on April 7, 
18S1. They have two children: William, 
born January 2, 1896, after fifteen years of 
wedded life; and Esther Helen, born January 
25, 1897. Mr. Bindloss and his family reside 
on Water Street, in the house which he built 
in 1884. Mrs. Bindloss is a native of Lee, 
Mass., and is a daughter of John Bickley, of 
England. In politics, like his father, Mr. 
Bindloss is a stanch Democrat. PTaternally, 
he is a member of the Masonic Lodge and 
Council. He and his wife are church mem- 
bers, the one of the Episcopal and the other 
of the Congregational church. A full record 
of the Bindloss family in England may be 
found in the old church in Kendal. 




ILLIAM H. BENHAM, a well- 
known farmer of North Waterford, 
New London County, Conn., was 
born in this town on the farm he now occu- 
pies, June 17, 1856. His parents were Will- 




WILLIAM BINDLOSS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIKW 



195 



iam II. and Sally A. (Edgecomb) Ben ham. 
His ancestors were English. 

His paternal grandfather, John Benham, 
was a native of the Isle of Wight, being born 
in 17S6. He was of wealthy parentage; but, 
as the property went to the eldest son, he 
came to America in early manhood, and set- 
tled in Groton, Conn. After serving a seven 
years' apprenticeship, he became an itinerant 
maker, with his bench and tools going 
from house to house among the fanners, as 
was the custom in those days, and remaining 
in each, using their stock, mostly home tanned, 
until the family were all shod. He married 
Betsy Taft, ol Mystic, and they reared eight 
children, but two of whom are now living: 
Austin, of New London; and James. John 
Benham died in 1 s 5 « ) ; and his wife died in 
18771 aged ninety-seven years. 

William II. Benham. Sr., son of John and 
Betsy (Taft) Benham. was born in the town 
of Groton, July 16, 1816. He was a carpen- 
ter by trade, and began his business career 
with his chest of tools and twenty-five dollars. 
He acquired considerable property as the 
years of activity went on, and purchased a 
farm of eighty acres lor six thousand, five 
hundred dollars. He erected a new house in 
Groton, which he sold when they came to 
North Waterford, in April, 1848. On July 2, 
1840, he married Sally A. Edgecomb, with 
whom he lived over fifty years. They had six 
children, and they reared one son and three 
daughters; namely, William IL. Mary Emma, 
Sarah J., ami Josephine. Mary Emma mar- 
ried George Payne, and lives in New London; 
Sarah Jane is the wife of James E. Comstock, 
of Quaker Hill in this town; and Josephine 
married Asa O. Goddard, of New London. 
The other children were: George II. Benham, 
who died at the age of six; and Walter G., 
who died at the early age of eighteen months. 



William H., the father, died on October 10, 
1893; but the mother still lives with her 
son, being bright and active in mind and 
body. Her parents were Jabez and Bridget 
(Chesebrough) Edgecomb. Her father was a 
native of Groton; but her mother was born in 
Stonington, Conn. 

William II. Benham, Jr., attended the com- 
mon schools and also the business evening 
school in this town, remaining on the farm 
until his marriage. He has a good dairy 
farm, keeping sixteen cows of the best breeds, 
and sells milk in New London. His farm, 
which is pleasantly located on the west bank 
of the Thames River, has a most accessible 
shore and a commanding view. In polities 
Mr. Benham is a Republican. He has served 
on the School Committee. Fraternally, he is 
identified with the American Order of United 
Workmen. 

On June 1, i88_\ he was married to Maria 
S. Brooks, daughter ol George A. ami Mary 
T. (Steward) Brooks. Mrs. Benham's mother 
died in 1870, at the age of forty-three; and 
her father, who was a butcher in the firm of 
Steward & Brooks, died in 181)4. at the age of 
seventy-four. They reared three children, 
namely: Emma A., a professional nurse, now 
the widow of Charles Field, and living in 
Montville, this county; Mrs. Benham; and 
Jennie C, wife of Oliver T. Collins, of 
Brooklyn, N.Y. Mrs. Benham was educated 
in the New London public schools. She has 
four children: Mary J. Benham, who is nine 
years old; Ida E., who is seven; Tryon G., 
aged four; and Lloyd Brooks, aged two y. 



AMES A. ROWLAND, a leading mer- 
chant of Old Lyme, son oi .\sahel and 
Abigail (Greenfield 1 Rowland, was 
born in the town of Lyme, November 15, 



ig6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



1839. His great-grandfather, Levi Rowland, 
was a native of Lyme, where he owned many 
acres of land, and carried on farming. He 
had several sons, among whom was Asahel, 
the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
Asahel was also a farmer of Lyme, in which 
town he died at the age of forty-nine, leaving 
a widow, two sons, and two daughters. His 
wife was in maidenhood Hannah Greenfield. 
She survived her husband many years, dying 
on the farm at an advanced age. Their son 
Asahel was born on the old farm, February 
11, 1796. He was at one time a Captain of 
the militia, and saw a few clays' service in the 
War of 181 2. He was a prosperous farmer, 
and owned two hundred acres of land. By 
his wife, Abigail, who was a daughter of 
James Greenfield, he had three children: 
John, who is now a farmer of Lyme; Mary 
A., who became the wife of John De Wolf, 
and died in 1858: and James A., the subject 
of this sketch. 

James Rowland was brought up on the old 
farm, and received his elementary education 
in the district schools. He subsequently at- 
tended the New Britain Normal School, and 
afterward taught in the district schools for 
three winters. In 1866 he began dealing in 
merchandise in the town of Old Lyme at the 
stand of Captain Charles W. Wait, who had 
been in the business for many years. He was 
at first in partnership with George W. De 
Wolf, the firm being known as Ue Wolf & 
Rowland; but for the last twenty-five years 
Mi-. Rowland has carried on the business 
alone. A Republican politically, he served 
as Town Clerk for one year. He is a Deacon 
in the Congregational church, of which he 
has been an active member for years. Mr. 
Rowland married Sophronia, daughter of Win- 
throp and Hepzibah (Anderson) De Wolf. 
They have one adopted daughter, Annie M. 



During his business career Mr. Rowland has 
gained a reputation for honesty and fair deal- 
ing, and his trade has steadily increased. He 
has the good will of his fellow-townsmen, 
and is regarded as a substantial and useful 
citizen. 



LIAS PERKINS RANDALL, a retired 
banker of Mystic, Conn., was born 
July 4, 1 S 2 1 , the son of William and 
Martha (Chesebrough) Randall. His great- 
great-great-grandfather, John Randall, re- 
moved with his wife from Newport, R.I., to 
Westerly, R.I., in 1666. In 1670 he pur- 
chased a lot of land in what is now the east 
part of the present town of North Stonington, 
and became an extensive land-owner. lie 
took the oath of allegiance in 1669, and was 
a man of prominence in public life, serving 
as Deputy to the General Assembly in Rhode 
Island and in other offices. He died in West- 
erly about 1685. 

John Randall, second, born in 1666, son of 
the first John, had a son John, born December 
2, 1701, who likewise had a son John, the 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch. This 
fourth John Randall was born August 4, 1730. 
He was twice married, first to Lucy Brown, by 
whom he had eight children, and second to 
Thankful Swan, who became the mother of 
four children — William, Desire, Nancy, and 
Dudley. Of this group all married, reared 
families, and lived to a goodly age, Desire 
being eighty-six at the time of her death; 
Nancy, wife of Benadom Williams, Jr., about 
sixty-seven; and Dudley, seventy-nine. The 
father of these children died in 1802. 

William Randall, son of John, fourth, and 
Thankful (Swan) Randall, and father of Elias 
Perkins, was born in Stonington, March 25, 
1768, and was a man of note in his commu- 



IIIOCRAPMICAL REVIEW 



197 



nity, throughout his Life holding many offices 
of trust both in civil and military affairs. 
He was Colonel of the Thirtieth Regiment, 
Connecticut Militia, and was in command 
when the regiment was called out in [813 and 
1S14 during the second war with Great Brit- 
ain. During si\ sessions of the Connecticut 
legislature he was a member of the lower 
house; and in iSjj he was a member of the 
Senate, being one of the twelve Senators 
elected by the general election of Connecti- 
cut. In [818 he was a member of the con- 
vention which formed the Constitution. He 
was from [818 to [833, inclusive, Associate 
Judge of the County Court; and he received 
the annual appointment of Justice of the Peace 
lor twenty-eight years. IK- was a charter 
member of the Stonington Bank, organized in 
1822, and was its first president, which office 
he held lor two years. 

His third wile, Martha Chesebrough, was 
the daughter oi William and Ksther (Will- 
iams) Chesebrough, all of Stonington. Will- 
iam Randall and his wife, Martha, had eight 
children, six oi whom they reared: l'hebe 
Esther, Hannah A., Roswell, Harriet X., 
Martha <'.. and Elias I'. Roswell died at the 
age ot twenty-one. Phebe Esther married 
nel Ezra Hewitt, and had three children, 
all ol whom died in infancy. She died in 
September, 1X391 aged twenty-nine. Hannah 
died when one year old. Harriet N. married 
Reuben E. Moss, son of a well-known Con- 
ttional clergyman, and had seven children, 
ot whom six survive. Mr. Moss was long a 
druggist in New York City. Later he went 
to Elmira, N.Y., where he became a wealthy 
and influential citizen. He died October, 
1896, aged eighty-nine. Mrs. Moss is now 
living in Elmira. Martha C. married Ralph 
II. Avery, of North Stonington, Conn. They 
lived in Norwich, Conn., Brooklyn and Canas- 



tota, N.Y. He was appointed in 1862, by 

President Lincoln, United States Collector of 
Internal Revenue, and held the office eight 
years. He died in May, [889, aged seventy- 
three years. His widow, Martha C, died in 
March, 1897, aged eight)- years. They had 
seven children, five of whom survive, two 
having died in infancy. William Randall 
died June 17, 1841, at the age ot seventy- 
three. 1 1 is wife, Mrs. Martha C. Randall, 
lived until she was ninety, and died Septem- 
ber 25, 1870. 

Elias Perkins Randall was reared to farm 
hi. and work, and was educated in the com- 
mon schools ami at the academy, which he at- 
tended for about three terms. He was subse- 
quently engaged in teaching for a very short 
time, and at the death of bis father he took 
charge of the home farm. He settled in 
Mystic in 1X50, ami went into business with 
his father-in-law, whose successor he became. 
About fourteen years later, in 1864, he was 
elected cashier of the First National Bank ot 
Mystic Bridge; and this position he held up 
to the time of its liquidation in 1894. He is 
still occupied to some extent in closing up the 
business. lie has been an active' man of 
affairs, has served as Selectman, as Justice of 
the Peace, and as Notary Public many \< 
was Representative to the General Assembly 
in 1859, and Judge of Probate lor district of 
Stonington in 1863. In politics he has been 
a stanch Republican since the formation of 
the party, which he helped to organize. Both 
he and his wile are valued members of the 
Congregational church, in which he was clerk 
from [869 to the present year, [898. lie has 
been treasurer of the society for the past 
twenty-seven years, and was Sunday-school 
superintendent for almost twenty-five \> 
to January, 1894. 

Mr. Randall was married March 15, 1S43, 



1 98 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



to Hannah Fish, born June 6, 1823, daughter 
of Asa and Prudence (Dean) Fish, the former 
of Groton and the latter of Stonington. Mrs. 
Randall's father was a prominent merchant in 
Mystic for many years, and held various im- 
portant offices. His children were nine in 
number. Eight of them were reared; namely, 
James D., Sands H., Hannah, Silas, Asa, 
Prudence, Benjamin, and Fanny. Three of 
these, James D., Sands II., and Silas, are in 
New York City, the last two being in partner- 
ship in the ship supply business; Benjamin 
lives in New York and Mystic; Prudence is 
the wife of Uriah H. Dudley, of Brooklyn, 
N.Y. ; and Fanny is the widow of Caleb S. 
Woodhull, of that place, where she still re- 
sides. Mr. Asa Fish died April 20, 1861, at 
the age of seventy-one; and his wife, Mrs. 
Prudence D. Fish, died in December, 1873, 
aged seventy-four. Mr. and Mrs. Randall 
have had four children. Their eldest child, 
Martha C, was born April 20, 1844, and died 
December 3, 1845. A daughter, Fanny, was 
born February 1, 1849, anc ' c l' ec ' June 24, 
1850. The fourth child was a son, who was 
born and died December 6, 1853. The sur- 
viving son, Sands F. Randall, A.B., LL.B., 
who was born May 18, 1846, and is unmar- 
ried, is a lawyer at 99 Nassau Street, New 
York City. He is a graduate of Yale Col- 
lege and Columbia College Law School. 

Mr. Randall and his wife have lived at 
their pleasant home on Church Street for 
forty-seven years. He owns the two-hundred- 
and-thirty-acre farm, Elm Ridge, where he 
was born and brought up. The most of this 
property was bought by his grandfather one 
hundred and twenty years ago. On their fif- 
tieth wedding anniversary, which was cele- 
brated March 15, 1S93, Mr. and Mrs. Randall 
ived many congratulations on their con- 
tinued health and activity. At the present 



time, 1898, also, they remain in comfortable 
health. 




APTAIN RICHARD K. MINER, 

master of the steel steamer "City of 

,~ ' Lowell," which plies between New 

London and New York City, was born in the 
village of Lyme, Conn., August 11, 1S36, 
son of Samuel W. Miner, Jr., by his wife, 
Phebe Kendrick, of Chatham, Mass. 

His paternal grandfather, Samuel \V. 
Miner, Sr., was a shoemaker, and lived in 
Old Lyme. He married Sarah Sill, of Lyme 
village, and reared four sons and four daugh- 
ters, all of whom lived to marry and to have 
families; but only one daughter survives at 
this date, Caroline Winslow, now a widow. 
Grandfather Miner died in 1856, at the age of 
seventy-five years; and five years later his 
widow died at the venerable age of ninety. 
They sleep in the Duck River Cemetery at 
Lyme. 

Samuel W. Miner, Jr., son of Samuel, Sr., 
and Sarah (Sill) Miner, was born on February 
21, 1810. He learned the shoemaker's trade 
of his father, but spent most of his life upon 
the water, principally upon the inland seas, 
and was for many years captain of different 
sailing vessels. He, however, took one voyage 
on a whaler. His home was for many years in 
Saybrook, just across the river. He married 
Miss Phebe Kendrick in 1833, and had six 
children, briefly mentioned as follows: Will- 
iam, the eldest-born, a mariner and afterward 
a hotel-keeper of Hartford, where he died in 
the blizzard of 1888, at the age of fifty-four 
years, leaving a wife and two sons; Richard 
K., the sea captain; Charles Miner, a loco- 
motive engineer, who lost his life between 
Black Hall and South Lyme; Julia S., wife 
of Rollin D. Lane in Hartford, Conn. ; Or- 




RICHARD K. MINER. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



201 



lando, who died young; and Orlando M., who 
is in Hartford. The mother, Mrs. Phebe K. 
Miner, died September 25, 1 S 5 4 , at the age 
of forty-one; and the father married, second, 
Phebe Whaley, a widow. His death occurred 
November iS, 1S94. 

Richard K., the second son, attended the 
common schools until fourteen years of age, 
at that time beginning life as a cook on board 
a small vessel alongshore. At nineteen he 
was made captain of the sloop "Joel Hall," 
from the Portland Brownstone Quarry; and 
he was afterward captain and part owner of 
four different sailing vessels. In 1868 he 
me a steamboat captain on the Connecti- 
cut River, Hartford line, and he commanded 
successively the "Silver Star"; "Granite 
State"; "City of Hartford," which was lost 
on the Sound; the "City of Lawrence," then 
in the Hartford line; the "Laura," of Bridge- 
port, on the Sound line; the "City of Spring- 
field"; and many others. His present com- 
mand is the "City of Lowell," plying between 
New London and New York, probably the 
fastest boat in the country, stanch and pretty, 
of which he assumed charge in 1 S93. 

In i<S6i, on New Year's night, the Captain 
was married to Mary I. Cone, of Cromwell, 
Conn., daughter of William Horace Brockway 
Cone, by his wife, Sarah Selinda Spencer, of 
Haddam, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. Cone had 
twelve children. He died in 1S75, at the age 
of fifty-seven, leaving his widow and five chil- 
dren. Sin- died in 1888, aged seventy-two, 
at the home of her daughter. Mr. and Mrs. 
Miner have one child, a son, Walter R., an 
electrician on the steamer "Mohegan." lie 
married in Mobile, Ala., Mary Josephine 
Chappell, daughter of Ezra P. Chappell, for- 
merly of New London, Conn. She is an ac- 
complished musician and pianist. 

The Captain is a Republican in politics, 



and cast his first vote for Lincoln. He is a 
member of the Congregational church at Lyme. 
They resided in the charming rural village 
of Lyme until the winter of 1S96. They 
have since spent much of their time with 
their son at 123 Huntington Street, New 
London, but now have their own pleasant 
home on Montauk Avenue in this city. 



T^HARLES JEREMIAH SLATE, an 

I Jp experienced mariner residing at 94 
V s ^ Pequot Avenue, New London, was 
born here, January 2, 1845, son of Jeremiah 
and Sophia (Holt) Slate. The paternal 
grandfather, John, who was a master mariner, 
came to New London with the father of 
Sebastian Lawrence, anil built a house on Pe- 
quot Avenue, now owned by the actor, James 
O'Neil. 

Jeremiah Slate was born in New London in 
1800. At the age of eighteen he began a 
sailor's life: and at thirty he was master of 
the "I'hienix," in which he made two voyages 
to the Indian Ocean, lasting three years each. 
Subsequently he commanded the "Corinthian" 
for four years. He married, and became the 
father of five children, of whom Charles J., 
Thomas Franklin, and Samuel N. are living. 
Samuel, born at St. Helena in 1 849, while 
his father was master of the "Corinthian," 
was the first male child of American parent- 
age on that island. The authorities were so 
delighted with his advent that they borrowed 
him, and kept him so long that his parents 
were afraid of abduction. He was taken to 
Napoleon's grave, and laid upon it. Char- 
lotte Ann died in her fifth year, on September 
3, 1844; and Samuel N. (first) was drow 
in October of that year, at the age of six. 
Very successful in whaling, the father ac- 
quired a large property. Though he subse- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



quently lost a part, he left his widow in com- 
fortable circumstances. She was twice mar- 
ried, being left a widow with two children, 
the first time when she was only twenty years 
old. Jeremiah Slate died on June 25, i860, 
at the age of sixty-nine; while the mother 
lived to be eighty-one and a half years old, 
dying October 27, 1892. 

Charles J. Slate attended the district school 
for a short time. The most of his book 
knowledge was subsequently acquired on 
board ship. At the age of eleven years he 
shipped as cabin boy with Joshua Lyon, his 
half-sister's husband, sailing from New Bed- 
ford, Mass., in the bark "Isabella," being 
away three years and nine months. He made 
six whaling voyages, including two to the 
South Shetland Islands in the Pacific, being 
first mate on one voyage and second mate on 
the other. For two years he was captain. 
He sailed round Cape Horn, and for three 
years he prospected in Patagonia. He 
learned much from the book of nature by ob- 
servation during his forty-eight years' experi- 
ence as mariner. For the past six years he 
has been running a summer steamboat in the 
harbor. Captain Slate, in the capacity of 
diver, New York City, spent six and a half 
hours under thirty feet of water, examining 
the vessel "State of New York," which sunk 
off Goodspeed's Landing. He and his two 
brothers, all bachelors, live together in the 
house that formerly belonged to their great- 
aunt, Lucy Harris, situated just across the 
road from where their mother was born, and 
where Grandmother Holt resided most of her 
life. Every one in New London knows and 
believes in Charles Jerry Slate, who has the 
true heart of a sailor. He is identified with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a 
Master Mason, and also a member of the Jib- 
boom Club. 




UGUST MULLER, founder of the firm 
of August Miiller & Sons, furniture 
dealers and undertakers, one of the 
most reliable business houses in Stonington, 
was born April 19, 1820, in Weidenhein, by 
Torgau, Kraes Daletzsch, Kingdom of 
Prussia. His father was a tailor, born Feb- 
ruary 24, 1786, and died at the age of ninety 
years and seven months. His mother was 
born December 14, 1784, and died at the age 
of seventy-five years and ten months. They 
had five children, four sons and one daughter. 
August, the subject of this sketch, was the 
second child. He attended school until four- 
teen years of age, when he went to Torgau, 
where he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, 
with whom he remained five years to learn 
cabinet-making. The next six years he spent 
in Leipzig, where was being built at that time 
the first Catholic cathedral, in which he built 
the pulpit and altar in Gothic style. He then 
visited the Rhine and several large cities, in- 
cluding Nurnberg, Frankfort on the Main, 
Mannheim, Strasburg, St. Goar, and Mainz, 
where the finest cabinet-makers' shops were 
located. Here again he stayed for six years. 
The outlook for starting in business for him- 
self not being of the best, he decided to try 
his fortune in America. So he visited his 
parents once more on the 28th of September, 
1852. He then went via Leipzig and Magde- 
burg to Hamburg, where on the first day of 
October he took passage on the steamer "Vic- 
toria " for Hull, England. He arrived there 
on October 4, after a very stormy voyage, the 
steamer losing two of her masts. On October 
5 he travelled by rail to Liverpool, and taking 
passage on the sailing-ship "Australia," Oc- 
tober 8, after a pleasant voyage arrived in 
New York, November 10, 1852. He very 
soon found employment with the firm of 
Fraede & Kamp, who were cabinet-makers lo- 






! % 






% 




y i < 



AUGUST MULLEK 



BIOGRAPHICAL REYIKW 



205 



cated mi Broadway, where he was employed 
until September 19, 1854, when the business 
was destroyed by fire. 

He was married in New York, October 26, 
1853, to Barbara Scheinlein, of Langenfeld, 
Bavaria, Germany. In the fall and winter of 
1S54 business was dull everywhere; and he 
was out of employment until the middle of 
April, 1855, when he was induced by a friend 
to locate in Stonington, Conn., where a cabi- 
net-maker bv the name of Dayton was in need 
of help. He accordingly went to his relief; 
and after working for him two weeks he made 
an agreement with Mr. Dayton for steady em- 
ployment, and returned to New York for his 
family, consisting of his wife and son Henry, 
who came to Stonington with him on May 1. 
Work at Mi'. Dayton's becoming slack, in 
September he started out for himself, repair- 
ing furniture in a small room in the house in 
which he lived, still standing on the corner 
ol Main and Church Streets. After several 
months, his business increasing so that he had 
to have more room, in the spring of 1856 he 
removed with his family to the .Arcade build- 
ing on Water Street, where he lived ami did 
business until May, 1S61. At this time the 
only furniture dealer in town moved away, 
and he hired of Dr. Ira H. Hart the building 
vacated by them on Gold Street. There he 
i' nained until 1866, when a stock company 
was formed for the manufacture of furnit- 
ure went to Dr. Hart, and offered him twenty- 
five dollars more rent. Mr. Miiller thereupon 
bought the Eagle Hotel, corner of Gold Street 
and Railroad Avenue, and on February 6, 
18(17, removed there with his business and 
family, which consisted of two sons and two 
daughters. 

In 1SS7, having the opportunity to secure a 
piece of land, comer of Gold and Pearl Streets. 
he purchased the same, and erected thereon a 



modern three-story business house, now known 
as the Miiller Block, into which he moved his 
business, November 1, 1887. He here keeps 
furniture of all descriptions and any variety 
of house furnishings, and also all that pen 
to the undertaking branch of the business. 
His sons, Henry and Edward, have been re- 
ceived into partnership; and they are not only 
doing a large business in furniture, but for a 
number of years have been the leading under- 
takers in Stonington. 

Mrs. August Miiller died January 28, 1875, 
aged fifty-two years. The four children that 
survive her are: Henry, who was born in New 
York; Mary, Barbary, and Edward, who were 
born in Stonington, Conn. Henry A. Midler 
was married May 16, [889, to Miss Lizzie 
Owen, of Springfield, Ohio, and has three 
children, two sons and one daughter. 

Mr. August Miiller is a Master Mason of 
thirty-five years' standing. He is a member 
of the Second Congregational Church, with 
which his family are identified. His wife- 
was also a consistent member of the same 
church. 




EV. ALBERT A. KIDDER, a 

Methodist minister of Mystic, Conn., 
who has been on the supernumerary 
list for the past two years, after an active ser- 
vice of fourteen years, was born in Berlin, 
Mass., July 19, 1858. His early years were 
pissed on a farm. He attended the high 
school; and, aft. iring lor college at 

East Greenwich Academy, he was graduated 
at Drew Theological Seminary. While there 
and subsequently he devoted much time to the 
study of different Ian including Latin, 

French, Hebrew, and Hindustanee, also 
Gujarati, one of the several langu oken 

in India. He then spent two years, from 



206 



i;kh;raphical review 



1879 to 1 88 1 , in Hindustan, studying the 
language. The journey out was made through 
the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal; and 
the return trip, which was made leisurely for 
his health, took him through Italy. While 
in the East, his first pastorate was in Baroda, 
where he was engaged in missionary work. 
Here he broke the ground with his own hand, 
digging out the dirt for the corner, and plac- 
ing in the corner-stone the recording relics, 
which included a Testament and a copy of the 
Methodist Discipline, with an historical sketch 
of the church and Mr. Kidder's name as 
founder and pastor. The edifice was of the 
Gothic style of architecture, and built of 
American brick. The funds for erecting this 
church were largely secured through Mr. 
Kidder's own efforts, he soliciting one-third 
of the amount from the natives themselves, 
and about one thousand rupees from the palace 
or government. After his return to this 
country he held charges as pastor succes- 
sively on Staten Island, in South Orange, 
N.J., and at Silver City, N. M. While in 
the West he made a lecturing tour through 
California and the Pacific Coast. He took 
with him a fine illustrative apparatus, and his 
audiences were large and appreciative. His 
lectures included one before the University of 
Southern California. Subsequently he had 
charge of a church in Canon City. His next 
pastorate was in East Weymouth, Mass., 
where he remained four years, from 1888 to 
1892. His last settled charge was at Mystic, 
Conn., where he served the church for two 
years. 

Mr. Kidder was married November 13, 
[882, to Miss Hattie L. Kinsman, of Au- 
gusta, Me., daughter of F. W. and Octavia 
A. (Greeley) Kinsman, her father bein_; ;i 
druggist and pharmacist by occupation. Mis. 
or was educated in the high school of 



Augusta, at Kent's Hill Academy in that 
town, and at East Greenwich Academy. She 
also studied music in Boston, Mass., and, 
having a fine soprano voice, developed into an 
accomplished vocalist. Before her marriage 
she was engaged in the profession of teaching. 
During Mr. Kidder's pastorate in Mystic, 
Conn., his wife's failing health induced him 
to cease his itinerancy, and become a super- 
numerary. Mr. and Mrs. Kidder have a fam- 
ily of four children, namely: Florence, who 
was born on Staten Island, fourteen years ago, 
and is now attending school; Frank, born in 
New Mexico, and now eleven years of age; 
Albert A., Jr., who is now in his ninth year; 
and Ralph W., who is four years old. 

Mr. Kidder has recently established a 
church publishing business at Mystic, making 
a specialty of collection helps, an invention of 
his own which is novel and taking, as well as 
practical. He is a Master Mason and Com- 
mander of the Golden Cross. Having scarcely 
reached the prime of life, it may well be 
hoped that he is but in the beginning of his 
career of usefulness. 



(5 I HOI 



HOMAS E. PACKER, a real estate 
(J I and insurance agent of Groton, Conn., 
the son of George and Delight (El- 
dredge) Packer, was born in Groton, April 11, 
1827. The family are of English descent, 
coming to America in the early days. John 
Packer, Jr., grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, was born February 7, 1753. He was 
a soldier of the Revolution, and enlisted in 
February, 1778, for three years in Captain 
Amos Stanton's company, of Colonel Sher- 
burn's and S. B. Webb's regiment. He ap- 
plied for a pension in 1816, which he received 
sixteen years later. He died February 8, 
1835, eighty-two years of age. His wife was 



BIOGR U'HK/AI. REVIEW 



207 



in maidenhood Hannah Gallup, of Stoning- 
ton, who survived him a number of years, re- 
taining her faculties up to the day of her 
th. They had six children, three suns and 
three daughters. Their son George was born 
in Groton, December 26, 1794. He was a 
farmer of Groton, and died in 1872, aged 
seventy-eight years. His wife, Delight El- 
dredge Packer, died in [864, aged sixty-three 
years. They were married July 17, 1820. 
They had nine children, of whom three sons 
died young: William Henry died on his 
twenty-first birthday; Thomas is the subject 
of this sketch; Mary Delight, widow of (iil- 
bert S. Bailey, and Prudence Helen, widow of 
Erastus William Denison, are living in Mys- 
tic : John Green married Frances Park; Han- 
nah Gore married Alexander Irving, of Groton. 
Thomas E. Packer spent his early life on 
the farm. He received a common-school edu- 
cation, and at the age of seventeen began to 
teach in the district schools, which he taught 
sixteen years. This included, however, some 
time spent in the Brandon (Miss.) College. 
Thirty-two years ago he engaged in the gen- 
eral insurance business with Charles H. Deni- 
son. In 1875 they took William H. Potter 
into the firm, which became Denison, Packer 
& Co. Seven years later Denison and Potter 
went out of the firm, and Mr. Packer contin- 
ued the business, taking his son-in-law, Frank 
W. Batty, into the firm with him. Mr. 
Packer is a Prohibitionist in politics, and has 
voted for every Presidential candidate of his 
■' since its inauguration. He is a Royal 
Arch Mason, and is Past Master of Charity 
Lodge in Mystic. He was married July 4, 
[849, to Emma J., daughter of Daniel and 
Mary (Hempstead) Burrows. They have two 
children: Teresa Kossuth, who married Amos 
Grinnell; and Addie B. , who married Frank 
W. Batty, mentioned above. Mr. Packer was 



the superintendent of the Baptist Sunday- 
school for a number of years, lie is a man of 
quiet, studious habits and sound business 
integrity. 




LFRED H. VAUGHN, who was one 
of the oldest business men in Nor- 
wich, was born in the city of Provi- 
dence, R.I., on February 26, 1828, son of 
Christopher and Ruby Ann (Briggs) Vaughn. 

Ruby A. Briggs was born in Assonet, 
Mass. Her grandfather was Benjamin Read, 
Captain of the First Company of Freetown 
militia from 1776 to 1781, during the Revo- 
lutionary War. 

Alfred H. Vaughn's boyhood was spent in 
Assonet; and he always retained a great fond- 
ness for that town, ami with characteristic 
generosity gave it help in many ways. At 
the age of eighteen Mr. Vaughn came to Nor- 
wich, and entered the employ of Abner T. 
Pearce, who was conducting an iron foundry. 
Mr. Vaughn showed great aptitude for the 
business, and became thoroughly skilled in 
every department. In 1X54 he, with two 
others, started the Norwich Iron Foundry on 
Ferry Street, in which he afterward became 
so successful and so well known. In 1861 
the original firm was dissolved, Mr. Vaughn 
buying out the interest of his partners. He 
continued the business: and, as it increased, 
he enlarged the premises and added new build- 
ings, until he had covered the square lying be- 
tween Ferry Street and Rose Place, and em- 
b] li ing an acre of land. I lis sons, A. N. II. 
Vaughn and C. W. Vaughn, learned the 
business, and in 1 sx 1 were admitted to part- 
nership, the firm name being changed to A. II. 
Vaughn & Sons. In 1884 Mr. Vaughn built 
a handsome four-story building on Ferry 
Street. He was a very successful business 



2oS 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



man, but his success was largely owing to his 
energy and careful supervision of details. 
As a citizen Mr. Vaughn was genial, social, 
and ever mindful of the highest interests of 
the community in which he lived. In poli- 
tics he was a Republican, and was at one time 
a member of the Common Council ; but he was 
never a political office-seeker. He attended 
the Broadway Congregational church. His 
death occurred April 6, 1886, at the age of 
fifty-eight years, after an illness of about 
three months. 

Mr. Vaughn was married December 10, 
1849, to Eliza, daughter of Jefferson and Mary 
(Crandal) Lamb. Jefferson Lamb was born 
in Ledyard. His daughter Eliza was born in 
Norwich, and in the public schools received 
her education. Her residence is on Broad- 
way. The children are: Alfred N. H.; 
Charles W. ; Helen, wife of Eoster Wilson; 
Erank J., who died at the age of three years; 
Eugene A., of Buffalo, N.Y. ; Rufus H. ; and 
Annie E. Vaughn. 




lUCIUS DWIGHT BROWN, late a 
prominent resident of North Stoning- 
ton, Conn., his native town, a well- 
known speculator in real estate and horses, 
was born on May 21, 1839, and died April 9, 
1897. He was a son of Jedediah and Eunice 
(Bailey) Brown, and belonged to one of the 
old families of this locality. His grand- 
father, Elias Brown, was a farmer of Stoning- 
ton, where he was born about 1760, and died 
about 1840. He married Rhoda Williams, 
and had a large family of sons and daughters. 

Jedediah Brown, the father of Lucius 
Dwight Brown, was born in 1806, and died in 
1 886. He was twice married. Mis first wife 
was Betsey Irish, of Preston, who bore him 
four children, two sons and two daughters. 



All married and had families, and all are 
now dead. The last survivor was Obadiah 
Brown, who was born in 1829, and in 1855 
went to California, where he kept a hotel and 
carried on the livery business, dying there in 
1896, and leaving considerable property to his 
widow and two sons. Jedediah Brown's sec- 
ond wife, Eunice Bailey, of North Stonington, 
a daughter of Elijah Bailey, was born in 1S16, 
and died in 1874. She was the mother of ten 
children, of whom the first-born, a daughter 
named Elizabeth, died at the age of ten, and 
the elder son, Lucius D., died about a year 
ago, as above mentioned. The second daugh- 
ter, Almeda, died in Norwich, iu 1866, leav- 
ing a husband, Abner Geer, and one daughter. 
The living are: Abbie, wife of William Rose, 
of Norwich; Governor H. Brown, of Norwich; 
Mrs. Ann Eliza Copp, a widow, living in Nor- 
wich; Margaret F., wife of Stephen Wilcox, 
of Norwich; Charles N. Brown, of New Lon- 
don, who keeps a livery and sale stable; Daniel 
Miner Brown, of Providence, R.I. ; Mary, wife 
of William Arnold, a hotel-keeper at Olney- 
ville, R.I. 

Lucius Dwight Brown, the subject of this 
sketch, was brought up to farm life, receiving 
his education at the common school, a mile 
and a half from home, which he attended until 
he was sixteen. After leaving school, he 
worked on his father's farm until he was 
twenty, when he entered the machine shop of 
Cottrell & Babcock at Westerly, R. I., Where 
he worked one year. Soon after he hired a 
farm of Dr. Kinney; and he subsequently 
owned and occupied several in North Ston- 
ington, buying and selling some thirty or 
more. He owned at the time of his death 
about eleven farms, located in towns in Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island. Mr. Brown was 
a great lover of horses; and he speculated 
largely in them, owning in the course of his 




*& fc 



LUCIUS D. BROWN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



life several thousand. He left about seventy, 
which was a moderate stock for him to winter. 
He was widely known among horsemen all 
through New England and in the West. His 
new barn, which he built in 1894, at a cost 
of thirty-five hundred dollars, is a model one 
and the finest in the town. 

Mr. Brown was married December 25, 1864, 
tn Mai)' Eliza Sisson, of Westerly, R.I., a 
daughter of Clark E. and Susan H. (Hall) 
Sisson, of that place. Mr. Sisson was a 
farmer and fisherman, born in 1814, and died 
in [880. Ilis wife died at the age of forty- 
nine, leaving twelve children, eight of whom 
are now living. 

Commencing life without capital, Mr- 
Brown by good judgment in his business 
dealings attained great financial success. 
The losses sustained by many of his neigh- 
bors, who were tempted by large interest to 
invest in Western securities, he escaped, tell- 
ing them he preferred to see his property, and 
could find his horses. Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
had no children. In April, 1875, tne y moved 
into the fine residence now occupied by Mis. 
Brown. 



•5TSAAC GILLKTTE, a prominent farmer 
of Lebanon and the Judge of Probate 
<«-L was born on the farm which is his pres- 
ent home, June 10, 1841, son of Milo and 
Mary (Wilson) Gillette. The family is an 
honored one in this town, and has long been 
resident here. Great-grandfather Ebenezer 
Gillette, who was a farmer, lived to be a very 
old man. His son Isaac, who was born on 
Liberty Hill, February 2, 1749, died Febru- 
ary 21, 1840. Isaac's wife died July 20, 
1824, at the age of seventy-two years. They 
ed a family of eleven children, eight sons 
and three daughters. One son was drowned 
at the age of twenty-one years. 



M ilo Gillette, son of Isaac, was born here 
in February, 1802, and was a lifelong farmer 
of this town. While a quiet and unassuming 
man, he had good judgment. He served the 
town in various public offices, and always 
with the strictest loyalty to public interests. 
His death, which occurred on February 28, 
1S74, at the age of seventy-two, removed a 
highly esteemed citizen. His wife, who was 
born in New York in 1802, and reared in Cov- 
entry, Conn., died on the day before Christmas 
in 1866. Her children were: Mat)' fane, 
who was born September 25, 1836, was the 
wile of Albert G. Lyman, and died November 
\(~>, 1897; George, who was drowned in 1863, 
at the age of twenty-four; and Wealthy, who 
is the wife of E. F. Reed, of Willimantic, 
Conn. 

Isaac Gillette grew up here on the home- 
stead, which has been partly in the possession 
of his family since the settlement of the town. 
After passing through the district schools, he 
studied for a number of terms at the high 
school. Subsequently he taught school lm 
more than twenty-five years through both the 
fall and winter terms. He has been a School 
Visitor of this town for more than thirty 
years, and was for fifteen years the secretary 
of the School Hoard. Much of the advance- 
ment made in the schools ol this town during 
the period Mr. Gillette has been officially 
connected with them has been due to his 
timely and wise suggestions. He has also 
served his fellow - townsmen as Assessor, 
Treasurer of the Town Deposit and School 
Fund, and as their Representative in the 
State legislature. Fourteen years ago he was 
elected Probate Judge, which office he has 
since filled with strict impartiality. .Al- 
though he is not a regularly qualified lawyer, 
he is well read in law and thoroughly in- 
formed in all matters coming under his offi- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



cial notice. In politics he is a Republican, 
in religion a Baptist. He has been a member 
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for 
five years, and has occupied all the chairs in 
that organization. He is also a Master 
Mason. His home, one of the neatest and 
most attractive places in Lebanon, located 
on the green, with a beautiful environment, 
was built by him in 1880. 

On October 25, 1866, Mr. Gillette was 
united in marriage with Mercy F. , daughter of 
Thurston and Amy (Tucker) Tucker. Her 
parents, who were not related, came to this 
place from Rhode Island. The father is still 
living near; but the mother died October 6, 
1884, at the age of sixty-four. Mrs. Gillette 
is a member of the Baptist church. She has 
one sister, Phoebe, now the wife of George 
Irish; and a brother, Orlando C. Tucker, of 
this town. 



Tt^NKV. LEWELLYN PRATT, D.D., 
I Sr^ tne pastor of the Broadway Congrega- 
-l-P y^ _ , tional Church, Norwich, was born 
August 8, 1832, in Saybrook, now Essex, 
Conn. Selden M. Pratt, his father, was born 
in the same place, March 4, 1805, son of 
Ezra Pratt, whose birth occurred on December 
5, 1757. Jared Pratt, the father of Ezra, 
was born in 171 1, son of Benjamin Pratt, who 
was born June 14, 168 1, a son of Captain 
William Pratt. Captain Pratt, born May 
15, 1653, was a son of Lieutenant William 
Pratt, who came from England in 1633, with 
the Thomas Hooker colony. Three years 
later Lieutenant Pratt settled in Hartford, 
Conn., whence he removed in 1645 to Say- 
brook, which has been the birthplace of all 
the succeeding generations in this branch of 
the family. He was a son of the Rev. Will- 
iam Pratt, who for thirty years served as rec- 
tor of the old parish church in Stevanage, 



England. The father of minister Pratt was 
Andrew Pratt, of Baldock; and his grandfather 
was Thomas Pratt, of the same place, whose 
will bore date of February 5, 1538. Lieuten- 
ant Pratt was for many years in the General 
Court, and held other public offices. When 
the first court in New London County as- 
sembled at New London on September 20, 
1666, Major Mason, Thomas Stanton, and 
Lieutenant Pratt occupied the bench; and on 
May 9, 1678, the last-named gentleman at- 
tended as Deputy for the twenty-third time. 
He died in that year. 

Ezra Pratt, the grandfather of the subject 
of this biography, was a farmer. He married 
on January 22, 1783, Temperance South- 
worth, a native of Saybrook. Eleven children 
were the fruit of the union, eight sons and 
three daughters, of whom Selden M. was the 
youngest. Ezra died soon after the birth of 
Selden, leaving the mother, who was known 
as "Aunt Tempe," with a large family and 
but limited means for its support. However, 
one of the noblest types of womanhood, she 
brought up her children in a manner that 
made them an honor to their name. She lived 
to be an octogenarian. Two of her sons, Ezra 
and Alfred, migrated to the Western Reserve 
(Ohio), where they became large land-owners 
and influential and public-spirited citizens. 
Horace and Nathaniel were educated for the 
ministry at Princeton after graduating from 
Yale College. The former became a Presby- 
terian preacher in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the 
professor of belles-lettres in the university 
there. The latter became a preacher, and 
labored in Marietta, and in Roswell, Ga. 
Henry acquired much wealth as a New York 
merchant. Amasa and Lyman were sea cap- 
tains, the latter dying a young man. All 
but two of these sons married and had chil- 
dren, some of whom are filling positions of 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



213 



distinction, one of the number being a recent 
Mayor of Minneapolis, Minn. 

Selden M. Pratt spent the active years oi 
his life occupied in carrying on his farm 
at Saybrook. Appreciating his ability and 
worth, his townsmen conferred various official 
honors upon him. He served as Town Clerk, 
Judge oi Probate for many years, and in the 
State legislature for several terms. On Janu- 
ary 15, 1828, he was married at Saybrook to 
Rebecca Nott, daughter of Clark and Wealthy 
(Pratt) Nott. Tlie\ r had nine children, six 
sons and three daughters, all of whom reached 
maturity. Selden, the seventh child, after a 
year's service in the Civil War as a volunteer 
in the Connecticut Infantry, was stricken 
with a lever, and died in Baton Rouge, at the 
;i of nineteen years. He was brought to 
Saybrook for burial. The living children 
are: Lewellyn, the second son and child; 
Jane, who for many years was a missionary 
teacher in New Mexico, under the New West 
Commission; Amasa, now residing in Colum- 
bus. I Ihio, who was for a number of years 
the superintendent of a deaf-mute institute; 
James M., a successful business man of Phila- 
delphia, Pa. ; and Abram Nott, who is en- 
gaged in the lumber business in Eddy, 
N.M. Henry Lyman Pratt, the first-born, 
alter graduating from Williams College, 
studied law, and subsequently practised at the 
bar in Essex. He was Judge of Probate, and 
represented the town in the lower house of 
the State legislature. In addition to his law 
practice, he carried on the manufacture of bits 
and augers for a number of years. He died 
in 1894, aged sixty-four years, having sur- 
vived fur 'some time his wife and two chil- 
dren. Selden M. Pratt died in i8Si, aged 
seventy-six, and his wife in 1869, aged sixty- 
two years. 

Lewellyn Pratt, after preparing in Durham 



and Essex Academies, entered Williams Col- 
lege in [848, and graduated in [852, with a 
class of over fifty, having one of the orations. 
Soon after his graduation he became the pro- 
fessor of natural science in Gallaudet College, 
Washington, D.C. In 1869 he went to 
Galesburg, 111., to take the position of pro- 
fessor of Latin in Knox College. After re- 
maining here until 1871, he was installed as 
pastor of the Congregational church at North 
Adams, Mass. Five years later he accepted 
the chair of rhetoric in Williams College, his 
Alma Mater; and in 1880 he became the pro- 
fessor of practical theology in the Theological 
Seminary, Hartford, Conn. From the semi- 
nary he came to the Broadway Congregational 
Church in 1888. In this, the largest Protes- 
tant church of Norwich, he has ministered 
most acceptably during the past eight years. 
Thoroughly practical himself in all depart- 
ments of church work, his lectures while pro- 
fessor of practical theology could but win the 
indorsement of those he taught. His success 
as a teacher and preacher lies, not so much in 
special talents, as in a happy and rare combi- 
nation of natural traits. A man of command- 
ing presence, he is at the same time distin- 
guished by the uniform courtesy of a thorough 
gentleman. Williams College conferred upon 
him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1877, 
and later elected him a trustee. Hartford 
Theological Seminary has also received him 
on its Board of Trustees. He has published 
many magazine and review articles, which 
have been very favorably received. 

On October 17, 1855, Dr. Pratt was united 
in marriage with Miss Sarah Putnam Gulliver, 
of Philadelphia, whose parents were John and 
Sarah (Putnam) Gulliver, of Boston, Mass. 
Of his two children, Theodore died when 
four years old. The survivor is Professor 
Waldo Selden Pratt, A.M., who fills the chair 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



of ecclesiastical music in the Hartford Theo- 
logical Seminary. Like his father, he was 
graduated from Williams College. He has a 
wife, but no living children. 



WILLIAM LADD, a highly esteemed 
octogenarian farmer of Sprague, 
now retired, was born February 17, 
1 816, near his present home, then included in 
the adjoining town of Franklin, New London 
County. His parents were Festus and Ruby 
Ladd. He is of old and substantial Colonial 
stock, whose immigrant progenitor (see Ladd 
Genealogy), Daniel Ladd, "took the oath of 
supremacy and allegiance to pass to New Eng- 
land in the 'Mary and John' on March 24, 
1633-4." He had a grant of land in Ipswich, 
Mass., in 1637, anil a little later on was one 
of the original settlers of Haverhill, Mass., 
where he was a Selectman in 1668. Daniel 
Ladd's son Samuel was killed by Indians on 
February 22, 1698. David Ladd, of Haver- 
hill, son of Samuel, was twice married; and 
Abner Ladd, born in 1740, is said to have 
been David's son by his second wife. Abner 
Ladd, grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, married Abigail Perkins, who bore 
him five sons — Jedediah, Abner, Jr., Erastus 
P., Festus, and George Washington. There 
were also a number of daughters. 

Festus, father of William Ladd, was born 
on the farm adjoining the one on which his 
son now lives. He was a farmer, and spent 
his life in this town, dying here in 1855, at 
the age of seventy-three years. His wife, 
who was also his cousin, survived him twenty 
years. They had a family of five sons and six 
daughters. The eldest child was Asa Spald- 
ing Ladd, who was born in 1808, and lived to 
the age of seventy-three years; the next child 
was Lura; Eliza, now the widow of Jerry 



Sims on Bean Hill is eighty-eight years old; 
Betsey, now Mrs. Ladd Perkins, a widow, re- 
sides in Franklin at the age of eighty-six 
years; William, of Sprague, has nearly com- 
pleted his eighty-second year; Laura, a widow 
residing in Illinois, is in her seventy-ninth 
year; Rufus S. is seventy-three years of age; 
and Lydia, Mrs. Hall, a widow, is in her 
seventieth year. The combined ages of all 
these is five hundred and fifty years. 

William Ladd was reared to agricultural 
pursuits, and received a common-school educa- 
tion. He was a fine penman in early life, 
and spent considerable time in perfecting him- 
self in that art. Leaving home at nineteen 
years of age, he hired himself out as a farm 
laborer at eleven dollars per month for the 
year round, and until he reached his majority 
gave the wages he earned to his parents. He 
worked for nine years for one man, Edwin 
Allen by name, who died in Mystic in 1895. 
Mr. Allen was an inventor, and was the origi- 
nator of wooden type. At one time Mr. Ladd 
received from him six hundred dollars of his 
wages; and then he and his sister Eliza 
bought a farm here, and gave their mother a 
lifelong lease of it. Mr. Ladd now owns five 
farms, and on one of them has a fine dairy. 
In 1892 he built his present cosey house on a 
home lot of seven acres of land. Mr. Ladd is 
a Democrat in politics. He has held various 
town offices, and has represented his town in 
the State legislature. 

In 1865 he was united in marriage with 
Lucretia Waldo. After her decease he mar- 
ried on October 26, 1885, her cousin, Mrs. 
Louise Jackson, widow of John R. Jackson, 
of Hartford, Conn., and daughter of the Rev. 
Horatio Waldo, a Congregationalist minister, 
formerly pastor of the church in Portage, 
Wyoming County, N.Y. 

Mrs. Ladd's daughter, Anna Jackson, an 



i 




WILLIAM LADD. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



217 



only and fondly loved child, died at the early 
age of nineteen, a blossom of beauty already 
ripened for a better land. She was not only 
the flower of the home, but in social life and 
religious circles occupied a prominent place 
that no one else could fill. Her pastor, Mr. 
Gage, uf Hartford, who was abroad at the time 
of her death, wrote to her mother that she 
(Anna) was the most active and influential 
young woman in Christian work in his large 
congregation, that her loss would be deeply 
mourned by all with whom she associated, 
and, as they should all miss her so much, he 
could scarcely conceive how the mother could 
live without her. She was not only strikingly 
handsome in face and figure, but was of a rare 
type of beauty, with soulful eyes, that radi- 
ated grace upon all who came within the 
circle of her influence. She was gifted in 
music and literature, but her Christian graces 
outshone all other gifts. At the age of ten, 
when a fine piano was presented her, she 
sat down upon the stool gracefully, and, play- 
inn her own accompaniment, sang in a most 
pleasing and effective manner, '"How the 
Cites came Ajar," "The Golden Stairs," and 
other hymns. A musician, who was present 
at the time, said that, "if a child of that ten- 
der age could sing with such spirit and pathos 
such pieces as those, she well deserved a fine 
instrument." 

Mrs. Ladd says that it has always seemed to 
her as if the child's grandparents, who were 
most estimable Christian people, had let their 
mantle fall upon Anna, and as if the grand- 
father's blessing had proved most effectual. 
He was a man (if letters, versed in Greek. 
When the baby Anna was brought to him as 
he lay dying, he was bolstered up at his re- 
quest; and, taking the child in his arms, he 
must fervently asked the blessing of the Al- 
mighty upon her. She grew from day to day 



in Christian loveliness of character, under her 
mother's watchful training. After Anna's 
death Mrs. Ladd received a very affecting 
letter of condolence from a young Chinese, 
who had become converted to the Christian re- 
ligion under her daughter's influence in a 
Sabbath-school class taught by Anna for some 
time in New York City. The Chinese lad 
was thrown under her influence at a missionary 
meeting, and subsequently joined her Sabbath- 
school class, where he was always an attentive- 
listener. 

"This world is His garden, Anna, 
Me Ijnt took thee from us he-re 
To bloom tlie brightei there." 




DWARD PREST, who was for fifty \ 
a resident of New London and in later 
life one of its best known and most 
respected citizens, was born in Bolton, Lanca- 
shire, England, in 1 8 1 3. Lie was a son of 
George and Mary (VVignall) Prest, his father 
being a local Methodist preacher, who held 
frequent religious meetings at his house. At 
these gatherings he in early childhood re- 
ceived impressions which had much to do with 
shaping his moral character and laying the 
foundation of his upright, useful, and prosper- 
ous career. A separate sketch of his brother, 
George Prest, including further ancestral his- 
tory, may be found on another page of this 
volume. 

Edward Prest learned the trade of a stone- 
mason in England. In 1845 he came to 
America with his father and brothers, and set- 
tled in New London, where he subsequently 
became a contractor and builder. An expert 
mechanic, he was also a man of the strictest 
probity, and would contract for nothing but 
the best quality of work, which he always exe- 



2lS 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



cuted in the most skilful and thorough man- 
ner. By virtue of these qualities, though be- 
ginning life a poor boy, he became a wealthy 
man and one of New London's most substan- 
tial citizens. Among the buildings erected 
by him which bear witness to his skill as a 
master workman are St. James Episcopal 
Church, City Hall, Lawrence Hall, Metropol- 
itan Hotel, Rogers Block on Main Street, and 
the residence of J. N. Harris. He bought a 
large tract of land in the western part of this 
city, through which he laid streets; and he 
built thereon many tenement houses. He 
also erected a comfortable residence for him- 
self on the corner of Blackhall and Prest 
Streets, where his death occurred in 1893, and 
in which his widow still resides. 

His first wife was Jane, daughter of John 
and Barbara McDonald, who came from Scot- 
land, her father being for years the leading 
baker in New London. For his second wife 
he married Frances H., daughter of Thomas 
and Fanny Chester, both natives of Groton. 
Her grandfather, Deacon Elisha Chester, as 
well as her father, Thomas Chester, were 
born in the old Chester homestead in Shin- 
necossett, now Eastern Point. In 18 14, 
Thomas, at the age of thirteen, assisted in 
building a battery on the Chester property as 
a defence against marauding British vessels. 
He taught school for twenty years. In 1834 
he purchased a farm in Waterford, near what 
is now Cedar Grove Cemetery, where both 
he and his wife died in 1S77. The farm still 
remains in possession of the family. Mrs. 
Prest's great -great-grandfather was Samuel 
Chester, who was a ship-owner, commander, 
and factor in the West India trade. He re- 
moved from Boston to New London in 1663. 
He owned a large tract of land in Groton. 
His son John, the next in line of descent to 
Mrs. I 'rest, married Mary Starr, a great -great- 



grand-daughter of William Brewster, one of 
the "Mayflower's " passengers in 1620. Two 
of the sons of John Chester were Thomas and 
Benajah. Thomas, who resided in the old 
Chester homestead at Shinnecossett, was pay- 
master for Connecticut troops in the Revolu- 
tionary War. On September 6, 1 78 1 , he 
armed three of his sons for the defence of Fort 
Griswold. Two of them were massacred after 
they had surrendered, and the other was taken 
prisoner. The land on which the Fort Gris- 
wold House and adjacent cottages now stand 
was owned by Benajah Chester and his son 
Starr. Their house was burned by the enemy 
during the war. Starr Chester, son of Bena- 
jah, subsequently purchased a large tract of 
land, a part of which is now known as Long 
Point. His son Nicholas became the father 
of Fanny, wife of Thomas Chester and mother 
of Mrs. Prest. 



DWARD P. BREWER, M.D., is an 
esteemed and successful physician of 
Norwich, his native town. A son of 
Pliny and Ellen M. (Whittemore) Brewer, he 
traces his descent by both parents to English 
colonists who came to New England in the 
early part of the seventeenth century. His 
great-great-grandfather, Isaac Brewer, first, 
died about the time of the Revolutionary War. 
Isaac Brewer, second, son of the first Isaac, 
married in 1747 Sibyl Miller, of Ludlow, 
Mass. They had eleven children, five sons 
and six daughters. Of these one son died in 
infancy and one at the age of seventeen. 
Lyman, the youngest son and tenth child, 
married Harriet Tyler, of Norwich, settled 
there, and became the father of Arthur Brewer. 
Isaac Brewer died when forty-seven years of 
age. Chauncey Brewer, horn about 1776, 
who was the seventh child and third son, and 
who located in Wilbraham, Hampden County, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 



219 



Mass., owned a large tract of land extending 
from Ludlow to Springfield. Me married 
Asenath Mandeville, who, with her father, 
had recently come from England. Seven sons 
and two daughters were born to them, of whom 
Pliny was the youngest. The mother, who 
survived the lather several years, died at Noi 
wich in 1X71, over eighty years of age. 

Pliny Brewer was born November 27, (823, 
in Ludlow, Mass. When fourteen years oi 
age he left home and came to Norwich. 
About the year 1848 he went into the cloth- 
business with his brother, John M. 
Brewer. He was in trade until 1862, when 
he enlisted tor nine months' service in the 
Civil War, and went out as Lieutenant oi 

ipany G, Twenty-sixth Connecticut Regi- 
ment, which was assigned to the Department 
of the Gulf. After an absence of about a 
year he returned home, a; id was in active busi- 
ness until the spring of 1SS9, when he retired. 
In or about 1851 he was married to Ellen 
M. Whittemore, a native of Providence, R.I. 
Her ancestry is traced in England to the year 
121 1. Samuel Whittemore, the founder of 
the American family, came to the country in 
1630. He purchased meadow lands along the 
Charles River, which were deeded to him by 
Cotton Mather. These lands, after having 
been in the family's possession for about two 
hundred and fifty years, were sold within the 
past twenty-five or thirty years. Several rep- 
resentatives of the Whittemore family were 

picuous as officers in the Revolution. 
Mis. Ellen M. Brewer's grandfather served as 
Lieutenant throughout the war, heing in the 
campaign against Burgoyne. Ller great- 

idfather, Benjamin Cady, and his son 
joined the Revolutionary army from Killingly, 
Conn. Her mother died in 1896, when 
eighty-five years of age. The children of 
Pliny Brewer and his wife were: Mary, now- 



living in Norwich; Florence, a resident of 
Wichita, Kan. ; Edward P., the subject of 
this sketch; and Frank, who was a medical 
student, and died of diphtheria in New York 
City. The mother's death occurred in Nor 
wich, in December, 1895, when she was sixty- 
four years old. 

Edward P. Brewer received the greater part 
of his college preparatory education under a 
private tutor. lie then entered the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, from 
which he received the degree oi Doctor of 
Philosophy. Later he graduated from the 
Dartmouth Medical College. lie continued 
his studies in New York and Philadelphia for 
five years. Then, in 1SS1, he established 
himself in Norwich, where he has since built 
up a large and successful practice. In [895 
he went to Europe, and studied under the most 
celebrated specialists in London, Paris, and 
Vienna. Since his return he has devoted 
himself to special work. He has been a con- 
stant contributor to the medical press, and has 
occupied important editorial positions. Pos- 
sessed of an inventive faculty, he has devised 
several important instruments, among which 
is the torsiometer, which has attracted much 
notice. 

In 1 886 Dr. Brewer was married to Miss 
Alice L. Boardman, of Norwich. Her par- 
ents were Clement and Louisa t Prentice) 
Boardman, of whom the latter is living. Mis. 
Brewer's grandfather, General Mott, a civil 
engineer, drew the plans fur the fortifications 
at New London, and inied the expedi- 

tion that captured Ticonderoga. ller great- 
grandfather, General John Tyler, served in the 
Revolutionary War, having command oi forces 
in the Newport and I ong Island 1 cpeditions. 
Dr. and Mis. Brewer have one child, .Alice. 
Dr. Brewer votes with the Republican party. 
He is a member of the regular medical asso- 



220 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ciations of the county, State, and country, and 
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
In religion he is a Congregationalist and a 
member of the Broadway Congregational 
Church. The family reside at i<S Washing- 
ton Street, where he built his dwelling and 
office in 1891. 




ILLIAM HARRIS BENTLEY, 
the second son of William and 
Hannah (Harris) Bentley, was born 
in New London, Conn., July 6, 1833. His 
father was descended from William Bentley, 
who came from Scotland in 1716. His 
mother was a lineal descendant of Governor 
William Bradford (1620; and Walter Harris, 
one of the first white settlers in the present 
town of New London. She grew up in the 
Blinman house, one of the houses which stood 
through the burning of New London in the 
Revolutionary War, and which is still in pos- 
session of her daughter, the street on which it 
is situated being named for the Rev. John 
Blinman, who built the house. Mr. Bent- 
ley's father received injuries from a severe 
fall on his vessel, which deprived him of his 
eyesight; and he was obliged to abandon sea- 
faring life. As New London was then in the 
height of its prosperity owing to its whaling 
interests, he established a teaming business. 

William H. Bentley, on coming of age, 
succeeded his father; and, as the demands of 
the business increased with the growth of the 
city, he added a wholesale and retail ice busi- 
ness at 24 State Street, wharfage at Howard 
Street, and a storage department and stables 
on Truman Street, all of which he still car- 
ries on. His residence is on Vauxhall Street. 
He became a member of the Second Congrega- 
tional Sunday-school in 1839, of which he is 
still a member, together with his three sons. 



He joined the Niagara Engine Company, No. 
1, in 1848, filling all positions in the com- 
pany, from volunteer to chief engineer of the 
fire department of New London. He was one 
of the organizers of the Veteran Fireman As- 
sociation, of which he is now first vice-presi- 
dent. November 20, 1856, he married Miss 
Frances Leech, of Norwich, who died January 
28, 1874. He enlisted in the Twenty-sixth 
Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers; and on 
formation of the company he was elected Cap- 
tain, and served with them during their enlist- 
ment, being in the siege of Port Hudson 
forty -two days, and having the entire charge 
of the regiment fifteen days. On his return 
he was unable to attend to business for a year, 
his health having been impaired from the ex- 
posure and hardships endured while in Louisi- 
ana. He has been a member of the Grand 
Army since its first formation in New Lon- 
don, filling its various offices, being appointed 
February 27, 1S90, Aide-de-camp to General 
R. A. Alger, and appointed March 19, 1891, 
Aide-de-camp to General W. G. Vesey. He 
joined the Union Lodge, F. & A. M., in 1S66, 
and is now Past Eminent Commander of Pal- 
estine Commandery, No. 6, K. T. He was 
elected Selectman for the town of New Lon- 
don, serving in 1869-72. Subsequent to the 
re-formation of the Third Regiment, C. N. G., 
in 1871, he was elected First Lieutenant of 
Company D (in 1873) ; promoted to Captain in 
[881; promoted to Major, receiving sword, 
straps, and all insignia of the office from mem- 
bers of Company D in 1882; promoted to 
Lieutenant Colonel; and honorably discharged 
June 30, 1 886. He was a member of the 
State legislature in 1883, and served on the 
Military Committee. He was a charter mem- 
ber of the A. O. U. W., being the first 
Master Workman. He was a charter member 
of the Royal Arcanum. The New London 




CALVIN ALLV.X. 




MRS. (\\l.\ 1 \ ALLYN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEYV 



2 -S 



Hoard of Trade was formed in 1S85, and he 
was its president in [886. He has served the 
city twenty-one years as Councilman and 
Alderman. October 25, 1877, he married for 
his second wife Miss Charlotte Bingham, of 
Norwich, by whom he has four sons — George 
Bingham, William Harris, Julian Bingham, 
and Frank. 

George graduated from the Bulkeley School 

in the class of 1897; William is a student at 

Bulkeley, in the class of 1898; Julian is now 

ised; Frank is a student at the Robert 

Bartlett. 




|ALVIN ALLYN, a prosperous farmer 

of Norwich, belongs to a family that 
came to America in the early days 
of its settlement by white people, enduring 
with brave hardihood the privations and suffer- 
ings which were the lot of the early colonists. 
He is a direct descendant of Sir Robert 
Allyn, of England. Another of his ancestors 
was Lord Mayor of London, and the family 
coat of arms dates from the second crusade. 

Robert Allyn, the immigrant progenitor of 
the branch of the family now being con- 
id. .one over in [637, and settled in 
Salem, Mass.. remaining there until [65 1, 
when he removed to New London, Conn., and 
obtained a large tract of land, including what 
is now Allyn Point, much of which is still in 
the family. From Robert Allyn the line de- 
ls, through John, Robert, Robert, Janus, 
a second James, and Charles, to Calvin, whose 
name appears at the beginning of this sketch. 
The younger James and his twin brother 
lezer, who was the progenitor of the pres- 
ent Allyn Point branch, were born in that 
part of Grot on which is now Ledyard, Conn., 
about 1750. James Allyn purchased the 
farm of John Dean, and the active years of his 
life were profitably spent in carrying it on. 



James Allyn, Jr., was married in 1768 at 
Stonington, Conn., to Anna Stanton, of that 
place. She was descended from Thomas 
Stanton, the Indian interpreter. A coverlid 
made and marked by her mother in 174} and 
a chair that belonged to her ancestors have 
been handed down as heirlooms to the present 
generation. The children of James and Anna 
(Stanton) Allyn were: Joseph, Anna, Althea, 
Martha, Jabez, Charles, and Roswell, all ol 
whom had families except Jabez. The mother 
died at sixty -seven and the father at eighty-six 
years of age. Their remains are resting in 
what is known as the Allyn Burial-ground, 
which was taken from the old farm in the town 
of Ledyard. The house in which Janus 
Allyn, Jr., and his children were born was 
also the birthplace of Silas Ueane, one of t he- 
commissioners to France in Revolutionary 
times. 

Charles Allyn, father of Calvin, was born 
September 28, 1781, twenty-two days after the 
massacre of Fort Griswold, New London, 
headed by Arnold, the traitor, September f>, 
1781. He became a well-to-do man and influ- 
ential citizen, and served acceptably as Se- 
lectman of Montville. He married in Groton, 
February 9, 1814, Miss Lois Gallup, a daugh- 
ter of Jacob Gallup, who was a son of Colonel 
Nathan Gallup, one of the Committee of 
Safety that advised with Governor Trumbull. 
The children born of this union were: Louisa; 
Robert; Amanda; James; Calvin; and Har- 
riet. Louisa married Robert A. Williams, 
of Preston, and died March 22, 1896, at 
eighty years of age, leaving five children. 
Robert was educated at the Wesleyan Uni- 
versity at Middletown, Conn., graduating in 
1841. In 1857 he was elected Professor of 
k in Wesleyan University at Athens, 
Ohio; was afterward president of the Female 
College in Cincinnati, president of McK.cn- 



226 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



dree College at Lebanon, 111., and the first 
principal of Southern Illinois State Normal 
School at Carbondale, 111. The degree of 
Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by 
his Alma Mater, also that of Doctor of Laws; 
and he was ranked with the leading educators 
of the West. He died in Carbondale, 111., 
January 7, 1894. Amanda, who was the wife 
of the Rev. Nathaniel Clark Lewis, a Metho- 
dist preacher, died September 19, 1891, in 
Onarga, 111., leaving no children, and be- 
queathing her large property to the North- 
western University, at Evanston, near Chi- 
cago. Her husband was in the itinerancy in 
New England and Illinois, and was also en- 
gaged in university work. James Allyn, 
third, died in Waterford, Conn., March 18, 
1893, aged seventy. Harriet lived to be but 
sixteen, and Calvin is now the sole survivor. 
At a family reunion held here August 15, 
1889, all the sons and daughters except Har- 
riet were present. Their mother died April 
28, i860, at sixty-nine years of age; their 
father, May 13, 1868, at eighty-six. 

Calvin Allyn was born in Groton, Conn., 
New London County, May 26, 1S27. His 
early education was supplemented by a course 
at Wilbraham Academy; and after that he 
taught school for three winters, but eventually 
turned his attention to farming, in which he 
has met with good success. He came to Nor- 
wich from Montville, where he had lived for 
forty-nine years, and now resides on the farm 
known as the Riverview, which he purchased 
of the Jedediah Spalding estate in 1881. 
Commodore Perry was staying at the tavern 
here, which was kept by his father at the time 
he was ordered to Lake Erie, where he en- 
gaged with the British fleet, and won his 
famous victory of September 10, 1813. 

On February 26, 1861, Mr. Allyn was 
united in marriage with Sarah A. Gallup. 



She died in 1864, leaving one son, Robert 
Gallup Allyn, who lived to be but eighteen 
years of age, dying in 1881. On November 
7, 1865, Mr. Allyn was married to Mrs. 
Eunice A. Ames, born Raymond, a daughter 
of William and Eunice 13. Raymond. By her 
former marriage she had one son, Charles \V. 
Ames, who was accidentally drowned at seven- 
teen years of age. Three children blessed her 
union with Mr. Allyn, namely: Lois Anna, 
wife of Dwight L. Mason, a manufacturer of 
Winchendon, Mass. ; James Raymond Allyn, 
who is engaged in the market business in Nor- 
wich, is unmarried, and lives at home; and 
Martha S., who was graduated from the Nor- 
wich Free Academy in 1894 and from the 
Normal School in 1896, and is now pursuing 
the study of art, for which she has special 
aptitude. Mrs. Allyn died April 19, 1897. 

Mr. Allyn votes in the ranks of the Repub- 
lican party, but prefers the quiet of home life 
to the turmoil of political service, and as a 
rule declines official honors. 



7TAURTIS LADD HAZEN, First Select- 
I \/ man of Sprague and a well-known 

V»l£_^ farmer of this place, was born, son 
of Eli Hartshorn and Ruth Kingsbury (Ladd) 
Hazen, on the farm which is his home and in 
the house built in 1839 by Grandfather Hazen. 
Simeon, the grandfather of Curtis Hazen, was 
a son of Moses Hazen, and was born in 1769, 
in a house which stood on the homestead. 
He was a lifelong farmer, and resided on the 
farm now occupied by Charles T. Hazen. 
Although he always lived in the same place, 
his residence was in three different towns — 
Norwich, Franklin, and Sprague. This was 
owing to successive subdivisions of the town 
under two governments. Simeon was twice 
married. His first marriage was made with 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



^7 



a Miss Simpson. The second wife, Temper- 
ance Sabin Hazen, was the grandmother of 
Curtis L. There were in all ten or twelve 
children in the family. Eli was born Febru- 
ary 27, i S 16, in leap year, and so came near 
losing three-quarters of his birthdays. The 

it occurred in the red house now standing 
on the farm owned by his brother, Charles 
Thomas Hazen. He was an active man in 
town affairs, serving as Selectman, on the 
Board of Relief, and in other public posi- 
tions. He sang for sixty years in the choir of 
the Methodist church. Three years after his 
marriage his father built the house in which 
Curtis L. now resides, entailing it to Eli, 
who in turn entailed it to his son Curtis. 

Eli Hartshorn Hazen was married on April 
'. [837, at the age of twenty-one years, to a 

, liter of Darius Ladd, she being then 
twenty. Moth were born in February. Her 
mother belonged to a family named Frink. 
Mrs. Eli H. Ha/en died February 22, 1894, 
when seventy-seven years of age, and was 
buried in the Portapaug Congregational 
Churchyard. Of her five children, Curtis L. 
is the youngest. Charles Eli, the eldest, re- 
sides in Hartford, Conn., and is an overseer 
in an envelope factory. The only daughter, 
Ruth Jeanette, is the wife of Joseph Henry 

dings, of Mystic. The other sons are: 
Dwight Bailey, who is a commercial traveller, 
ami resides in Matavia, 111. ; and Marcus 
Morton, who is a farmer in the town of Leb- 
anon. All have been Democrats in politics. 
The father, who survived the mother three 

-, was buried beside her. 
Curtis Ladd Hazen received a common- 
si hool education, and at an early age showed 
an aptitude for mathematics. At the age of 
sixteen years he had mastered Greenleaf's 
"National Arithmetic." Beginning at seven- 
teen, lie taught school in the winter term for 



three successive years. He has been active in 
the public life of the town, and takes a warm 
interest in all matters concerning the general 
welfare. In the capacities of Tax Collector, 
Constable, Justice of the Peace, and Select- 
man he has shown unswerving loyalty to the 
interests of the town, winning general esteem. 
He is now serving his fourth term as First Se- 
lectman. Mesides carrying on general farm- 
ing, he keeps a dairy of eight cows. When 
the fine barn, now in course of erection, is 
finished, he will increase his stock. He has 
always been interested in music, and, like his 
father, has sung for many years in the church, 
having been the choirmaster and taken both 
tenor and bass parts. 

On September 50, 1876, Mr. Hazen was 
united in marriage with Mary Catherine, 
daughter of James and Caroline (Shepard) 
Allen. Her grandfather, Aaron Allen, was 
born in Springfield, Mass. Her mother, 
whose people were English, is still living. 
The father died in 1892, aged seventy-two, in 
Mr. Hazen's house, where both parents had 
made their home for the three preceding 
years. Mrs. Hazen was born in Canada. 
Her daughter, Miss Lottie Alice Hazen, who, 
having inherited the musical taste of her 
father and grandfather, is a skilful performer 
on the piano, cornet, and organ, presides at 
the church organ, and sings both soprano and 
contralto parts. 




ESSRS. II. !•". and A. J. 
DAWLEY, of Norwich, the well- 
known manufacturers and dealers 
in lumber, shingles, mouldings, etc., are sons 
of Joseph Frank Dawley, now a resident of 
Westford. Their paternal grandfather, Jo- 
seph Dawley, came from Rhode Island with 
his wife and family, and settled at Willing- 



228 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ton, Tolland County, Conn., where he carried 
on farming. Both Grandfather and Grand- 
mother Dawley lived to about the age of four- 
score years. They had eight sons and one 
daughter. The two sons now living are: An- 
drew, who is superintendent of the Hadley 
Thread Company in Holyoke; and Joseph 
Frank, father of Messrs. Dawley. 

Joseph Frank Dawley was born in Eastern 
Rhode Island in February, 1828, and was the 
seventh son of his parents. In his early ac- 
tive life he was engaged in trade, having 
a store and sending out a number of teams. 
For the last thirty-five years he has given his 
attention to farming on his estate of one hun- 
dred and twenty-five acres in Westford, Conn. 
His first wife, Elvira Robbins, whom he mar- 
ried March 24, 1850, was born in Thompson- 
ville on November 24, 1829, and died March 
21, 1S55, leaving only two sons; namely, 
Herbert F. and Arthur James, of Norwich. 
His second wife was sister of the first, and 
was named Sophronia. She was born Novem- 
ber 21, 1835, and was married in October, 
1855. Her children numbered five. Three 
of them arc living, as follows: Clara E., the 
.1 El . r Walker, of Webster, Mass.; 
William H., who is in the employ of H. F. 
and A. J. Dawley; and Edward R., who re- 
sides in Evanston, 111., and is a commercial 
traveller for a Chicago firm. 

Arthur James Dawley, the younger of the 
two elder brothers, was born March 9, 1855, 
in the town of Wellington, and was reared to 
farm life. At the age of fourteen he began to 
work out during the summers, attending school 
in the winters. When he was seventeen years 
of age, his father hired him out until he 
should be twenty; and when that time came he 
was given the rest of his time. At twenty- 
one years of age he went to Boston, and en- 
tered the office of E. A. Buck & Co., the firm 



a year later becoming Dean, Foster & Co. 
Their business was the manufacture of glass 
bottles for druggists, with the name of the 
customers blown in the glass. Mr. Dawley 
began work the very day of his arrival, which 
was on September 4, 1876, his wages being 
eleven dollars per week. He was at first ship- 
ping clerk, and within a year became salesman 
and city collector. Some time after this he 
was sent on the road as salesman for the New 
England States at a salary of one hundred 
dollars per month and expenses. In the 
spring of 1879 ne was sent out to the North- 
western States, including among others Ind- 
iana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, and 
Kansas. He travelled in the interests of his 
firm until 1883, doing business in various 
parts of the country, and each year visiting 
thirty States. In 1882 he was offered a salary 
of thirty-five hundred dollars and all of his 
expenses paid; and in 1883 he became a 
member of the firm of Dean, Foster & Daw- 
ley, occupying the whole of a five-story 
building at 120 Lake Street, Chicago, and 
the other two partners being in Boston. This 
firm was the second largest in the United 
States in its line, doing a business of half 
a million dollars a year. On April 1, 1889, 
Mr. Dawley severed his connection on account 
of poor health, and, coming to Norwich, en- 
gaged in the lumber business with his brother. 
Fifteen months later he went to New York 
City, and, becoming a partner in the firm of 
Webster, Dawley & Co., at 52 Park Place, 
wholesale dealers in druggists' glassware and 
sundries, travelled in the New England States 
and West as far as the Rockies. He built up 
a large trade, but in P"ebruary, 1892, sold his 
interest in the business to his partners, and 
returned to Norwich, where he has since been 
engaged in his present business in company 
with his brother. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKYV 



229 



Mr. Arthur J. Dawley is an independent 
voter. Fraternally, he is a member of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His 

home is at 40 Oak Street. There are but few 
ner and more successful business men in 
Norwich or in the New England States than 
he: and his success has been won entirely by 
his own energy, enterprise, and natural busi- 
aptness. 

On September 1 2, 1S77, Mr. Arthur J. 
Dawley was united in marriage with Eugenia 
M., daughter of Obed P. ami Charlotte A. 
(Ladd) McLean, of Glastonbury, Conn. Mrs. 
McLean died in [895, at the age of seventy- 
two years, leaving four children: Ellen and 
May E., who are both in Hartford: James 
< 1 . .1 farmer and market gardener of Glaston- 
; and Mis. Dawley. Mr. McLean is 
living on his farm, still in good health. Mrs. 
nia M. Dawley was educated in the 
schools of her native town, ,u\d subsequently 
taught school for two years prior to her mar- 
riage. She is a member of the First Congre- 
gational Church on Broadway. 

Mr. Herbert !•". Dawley received a practical 
common-school education, and at the age of 
twenty struck out for himself in farming. 
When twenty-one years old he entered a 

w 1-turning establishment, and he was in 

the spoke department for four years at ordi- 
narv wages. About 1S76 he became partner 
to E. A. Buck, the company being known as 
Buck & Dawley, and carried on a grocery 
business. They managed also a grist-mill 
and a saw-mill, which were run by water, and 
likewise a portable steam saw-mill, the two 
latter being used for manufacturing into lum- 
ber the timber cut from a number of lots of 
Hand that they bought. The firm em- 
ployed many workmen and many teams, and 
did a large and paying business. Since his 
brother Arthur returned to Norwich in 1892, 



Mr. Dawley has been in company with him; 
and together the)' have built up on. 
most thriving enterprises ever started in this 
city. Their planing-mill and plant, which 
covers fifteen acres, and is fitted with all 
modern machinery, is at Fort Point, three 
miles below Norwich, and their office and city 
yard off Laurel Hill Avenue. They employ 
fifty to sixty men. Their timber and lumber 
come from the South and West, and from 
Maine and other Northern sections. They 
have a large wholesale trade lor Georgia pine 
timber and North Carolina pine and cypress, 
and ship it by rail throughout the New Eng- 
land States anil Canada. They do a business 
of about a quarter of a million dollars annu- 
ally. Mr. Herbert F. Dawley was married on 
May 30, 1876, to Martha, daughter of Peter 
Piatt, of Ashford. 



YT) KV JAMES CAMERON GAVIN, 
I S^ recently of Lyme, New London 
-l-^ V, ^ County, Conn., now settled at Cole- 
iv, Litchfield Count)-, as pastor of the 
North and the South Baptist Churches of this 
town, was born at Aberdeen, Scotland, Janu- 
ary 5, 1863, and is of Scotch parentage. His 
father, James Gavin, was a native of Old 
Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, and followed the 
mercantile business. His mother was the 
eldest daughter of John Cameron, of Ldny, 
Aberdeenshire. After receiving a common- 
school education, James C. Gavin, the subject 
of this sketch, adopted his father's calli 
serving his apprenticeship in his native city. 
Ultimately finding that his interest was 
lening in missionary work, in which for 
several years, as opportunil d, he had en- 

gaged, he relinquished his business prospects, 
and at the suggestion of prominent friends 
entered Harley College, Lon< land, as 



23° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



a missionary student. Subsequently he stud- 
ied at Hulme Cliff College, Derbyshire, Eng- 
land: and in 1890 he came to America, and 
settled in New York, where he engaged in 
ministerial work as assistant missionary in 
the Baptist Mariners' Temple of that city. 
He continued in that work for about one year; 
and in December, 1S91, he removed to Old 
Lyme, Conn., having accepted a call to the 
pastorate of the Baptist church in that town. 
There he was ordained to the gospel ministry 
in August, 1892. 

In April, 1895, he married Ann Henderson 
Davidson, who also is a native of Aberdeen, 
Scotland, being the younger daughter of 
George Davidson, late merchant at Kenneth- 
mont, Aberdeenshire. In November, 1897, 
after a successful pastorate of nearly six years 
at Old Lyme, the Rev. Mr. Gavin accepted a 
call to Colebrook, in the north-western part of 
the State, and removed thither with his fam- 
ily. Earnestly devoted to the duties of his 
high calling, Mr. Gavin is a rising young 
clergyman, and is doing a most acceptable 
work in his new field of labor. 



TTAHARLES CLARK PERKINS, the 
I >p principal of the New London clothing 

Vfc~_^ firm, C. C. Perkins & Co., was born 
in Noank, this county, November 5, 1864. 
An enthusiastic student of family history, he 
has traced his ancestry back for twelve genera- 
tions. One of his ancestors, John Perkins, 
was high steward to Hugo Dispencer, one of 
the richest and most powerful nobles of Eng- 
land in his time. It is believed that John's 
son, and his successor in the office of steward, 
who also became Lord of the Manor of Madras- 
field, was the first of the family to have the 
fesse dancette between six billets for his arms. 
This ancestor lived in the reign of Henry VI., 



and was the steward of the Dispencer estates 
when their heiress married the Earl of War- 
wick, the king maker. 

John Perkins, the immigrant ancestor, was 
born in Newent, Gloucestershire, England, in 
1590. Sailing from the port of Bristol on 
December 1, 1630, he was a fellow-passenger, 
on the ship "Lyon," William Pierce, master, 
of the celebrated Roger Williams. On the 
mother's side Mr. Perkins claims descent 
from Elder Brewster, who came to the coun- 
try in the "Mayflower." His paternal grand- 
father, Rufus, who was a farmer in Groton, 
served in the Revolutionary War, and took 
part in the battle of Groton Heights. The 
grandfather, Civilian, born in 1805, was cap- 
tain of a fishing-smack. In 1849 he went to 
California, and was there engaged in specula- 
tion for a few years. After his return home 
he bought a sloop, and was thereafter engaged 
in fishing for cod on the George's Banks. 
His wife's maiden name was Lucy B. Potter, 
of Noank. She belonged to one of the old 
families of this county. Grandfather and 
grandmother Perkins had seven sons and two 
daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, 
married, and had families. Six of the number 
are now living, the most of whom are scat- 
tered in the West. Grandmother Perkins died 
at the age of forty-five, while her husband 
lived to be seventy-two. 

Albert W. Perkins, the father of Charles 
Clark, was born in October, 1834. After 
spending twenty-eight years in seafaring, hav- 
ing had command of a vessel for several years, 
he opened a general merchandise store. On 
January 22, 1858, he was married to Julia 
Burrows, a daughter of Austin and Almira 
(Hill) Burrows. Her maternal great-grand- 
father, Samuel B. Hill, was slain at the battle 
of Groton Heights. His son, Moses Hill, 
was her grandfather. Her children are: 







CHARLES C. PERKINS. 



niOGRAI'HICAL REVIEW 



233 



Lucy, Charles C, Almira, Warren C, Albert 
W., and Abbie. Lucy married Charles I. 
Fitch, Jr., the station agent at Noank; Al- 
mira is the wife of O. \V. Monroe, of Provi- 
dence, R.I.; Warren C, who is the baggage- 
master at Noank, married Flora Stanton, of 
Stonington; Albert W., a young man of six- 
teen years, and Abbie, now aged fourteen, are 
still under the paternal roof. 

Charles Clark Perkins was educated in the 
common schools. At the age of seventeen, 
after gaining some experience in mercantile 
pursuits in his father's store, he went to Prov- 
idence, R.I.. where he was employed in a 
wholesale gentlemen's furnishing store in the 
several capacities of salesman, entry clerk, 
and commercial traveller. While in Provi- 
dence he supplemented his early education by 
taking a business college course. Later, on 
Hint of his father's failing health, he re- 
turned home, and took charge of the latter's 
business. In 1885, when Johnson & Shurts 
opened their New York store in New London, 
he came here, at the same time retaining his 
interest in his father's business. After serv- 
ing as second salesman in the new establish- 
ment for four years, he embarked in the hat 
and furnishing business. In April, 1889, 
he bought out George W. Meeker, hatter and 
furnisher. Owing to the smallness of the 
store, he gave it the name of "Hat Box." 
1 1 is stock comprised hats, caps, and furnishing 
Is. So successful did this enterprise prove 
that two years later, when the new Cronin 
Block was completed, he moved from the "Hat 
Box" to the " Hat Palace." Two years later he 
established a branch in Norwich, buying out 
John C. Clark. This place was conducted 
under the style of Perkins & Montgomery, 
until he withdrew from the connection in 
1894. Next year the firm of C. C. Perkins & 
Co. was formed by the consolidation of the Hat 



Palace and the old establishment of Shepard 
& Harris. S. E. Tyler was admitted to part- 
nership; and the firm opened their fine store 
at 130 State Street in November, 1895. Mr. 
Perkins has been remarkably successful in 
business. 

Mr. Perkins is Past Grand of Mohegan 
Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Chief Patriarch of 
the encampment; a member of Sprague 
Lodge, A. O. U. \V., of which he is Over- 
seer; Past Leader of the Home Circle; a 
member of the Jibboom Club and of the Sons 
of the American Revolution, and President of 
the New London Business Men's Association. 

On November 27, 1887, he was married to 
Miss Hattie S. Pish, of Noank. They have 
one child, Alice Tyler Perkins, who was born 
March 23, 1891. In politics he affiliates with 
the Republican party. In religion he is a 
member of the Second Congregational Church. 
His musical ability has led him to become a 
chorister in his own church, and also of the 
Third Baptist Church. For four years he was 
the treasurer of the Young Men's Christian 
Association. Mr. Perkins is also a trombone 
soloist of unusual ability, having played that 
instrument for five years in the theatre with 
Wight's Orchestra. The family reside in 
their pleasant home, 88 Huntington Street. 




TEPHEN CRANE, of Norwich, 
V7~> Conn., proprietor of the extensive 
and well - stocked Norwich Nur- 
series, situated near the fair grounds, was 
born March 24, 1828, in Bane, Orleans 
County, N.Y. He is a son of the late Jerry 
Crane, of that State, and bears the name of 
his grandfather Crane, an Onondaga County 
farmer, who was born in 1776, and died in 
185 1. For his first wife the elder Stephen 
Crane married a Miss Elsie Grinnell, by 



234 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



whom he had three sons and four daughters. 
Both of these grandparents were devout Meth- 
odists. They were buried in the town of 
Spafford, N.Y. 

Their son, Jerry Crane, the father men- 
tioned above, long familiarly known as 
" Uncle Jerry," was born in Saratoga County, 
New York, November 16, 1797. On Decem- 
ber 25, 1X2 1, he married Miss Orrissa Fisher, 
who was born in Cherry Valley, N.Y., in 
1800. They shortly moved to Barre, Or- 
leans County, N.Y. , and settled on a new and 
uncleared farm, where for the first few years 
they experienced the deprivations and hard- 
ships common with the pioneers of those days. 
By hard, honest, persistent labor the forests 
to the extent of over three hundred acres gave 
way to broad meadows and pastures. They 
celebrated their golden wedding on this farm ; 
and the ten children who, from a total of thir- 
teen, had grown to manhood and womanhood 
were present, with about twenty-five grand- 
children. 

Jerry Crane died November 25, 1878, and 
his wife, Orrissa, in 1882. They were sin- 
cere Christians of the Methodist faith. Their 
graves are in the cemetery taken from their 
farm in Barre. 

Stephen Crane, the subject of this sketch, 
spent his boyhood on the homestead farm; 
and. with the exception of about three years 
when he was employed as clerk in a country 
stoie, he followed agriculture. From the age 
oi fourteen he performed the same hard, sturdy 
work as the men. In 1861 he engaged with 
Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester, N.Y., as 
travelling salesman for their nursery at Nor- 
..vu h, Conn., at a salary ol one dollar pei 
and expenses. He was well adapted ami 
thoroughly qualified lor the position, and 
soon became one of their most trusted and 
best paid employees. After continuing with 



them for six years, he embarked in the nursery 
business on his own account. In 1882 he 
purchased his present nursery property on 
West Main Street, near the fair grounds, 
which he devotes to the raising of fruit and 
ornamental trees and flowers in rich and choice 
variety, making a specialty of roses, rhododen- 
drons, and rare evergreen trees. He keeps 
from ten to fifteen salesmen on the road in the 
New England States, and by years of honest 
dealing has built up a profitable business. 

Mr. Crane was first married August 16, 
1849, to Miss Mary E. Starr, of Barre, N.Y., 
a daughter of Deacon F. Starr. She died 
November 25, 1S7S, aged forty-eight years, 
leaving three of their five children; namely, 
Floyd H., Carrie P., and Sarah M. Floyd 
II. Crane is superintendent of the parlor, 
sleeping-car, and commissary departments of 
the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- 
road, and for several years previous to 1892 
was superintendent with the Pullman Palace 
Car Company. He has a wife and one son, 
Lester S. Carrie P. Crane is the wife of Mr. 
C. D. Noyes, of Norwich, Conn., and has 
three sons — Charles, Fred, and Harry. Mr. 
Noyes is the head of the firm of Noyes & 
Davis, proprietors of the largest bookstore in 
Norwich, and is one of the city Aldermen. 
Sarah M. Crane is the wife of Mr. G. W. 
Whaley, of Philadelphia. Mr. Whaley has an 
important position with the Swift Chicago 
Dressed Beet Company, and has handled over 
a million dollars of their money annually with- 
out bond. 

Mr. Crane was married the second time, in 
1879, t0 Sarah L. Brown, born Reynolds, a 
daughter of the late O. E. Reynolds. Mrs. 
Crane has one' brother, < ». II. Reynolds, of 
Norwich. She was educated in Norwich, and 
is a most estimable woman and model wife. 
Mr. and Mrs. Crane have resided at their 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 






present home, 106 William Street, ever since 
their marriage. 

.Mr. Crane is a Prohibitionist from the Re- 
publican ranks, and is one of the oldest here, 
having first voted with this party in 1870. 
He is a very zealous advocate of prohibition, 
standing loyally by his principles and colors 
at every Presidential election. His fine flag, 
inscribed with the names of Levering and 
Johnson, prohibitionist candidates for Presi- 
dent and Vice-President in 1896, is the only 
one of the kind in Norwich. 



M 



EACON KRASTUS C. KEGWIN, 
a retired railroad official living in 
Jewett City, was bom in Volun- 

town, then in Windham County, March 17, 
1N14. A son of Daniel ami Anna (Crandall) 
Keigwin, he is of English descent. The first 
representative of the family in America was 
John, whose surname was spelled Keigwin. 
Coming here a single man, he subsequently 
married a Miss Brown, of Groton. Their 
grandson was Lieutenant Nicholas Keigwin, 
a brave soldier and officer of the Revolution, 
who died on April 22, 1S13, in his seventy- 
nth year. He was twice married, the first 
time on November 15, 1759, to Huldah Stark- 
ther, and the second time to a Miss Cor- 
don. By the first marriage there were five 
children, namely: Sarah, born September 17, 
1761; Joseph, born in November, 1763; 
Anne, born October 27, 1765; Olive, born 
March 16, 1769; and Daniel, born January 
29, c/74. 

Daniel Keigwin. who was born in Volun- 
town, was a man of much prominence and in- 
ice. He was in the State legislature for 
a number of terms, was Probate Judge and Jus- 
tice of the Peace for many years, and con- 
stantly held a public office of some kind 



during his active life. Although not a pro- 
fessional lawyer, he was a careful student ol 
the Statutes and a keen and unerring inter- 
preter thereof. He was the author ol m 
legal documents, and but few of his decisions 
were reversed. One important decision in- 
volved the reputation of a worthy physician and 
a former school teacher, who sued the town 
in order to secure payment for professional 
services to a poor family. The case was 
appealed, but the decision rendered by 
Judge Keigwin was sustained. He died on 
May 16, 1852, and is buried in Kennedy 1 
etery. All the Keigwin ancestors before him 
were buried in the town of Sterling, in the 
Plains Cemetery, which was originally in Vol- 
untown. His first marriage was contracted al 
the age of twenty-live with Anna Crandall, 
who was then twenty-one years old. She was 
a daughter of the Rev. Amos Crandall, who 
was widely known in Connecticut and Rhode 
Island as a Baptist minister. A second mar- 
riage afterward united him with Belinda Cook, 
a second cousin of the present governor of 
Connecticut. His first wife had seven chil- 
dren, namely: Sterry S. , born in 1S03; Sally 
L., born in 1806; Stephen S. , born in 1. 
Daniel A., born in [ S 1 1 ; Erastus C, the 
subject of this sketch; and two daughters who 
died in infancy. By the second marriage 
there was one child. Barton C, born April 
22, 1823. Barton and Deacon Kegwin are 
the only surviving children. 

After attending the district schools for the 
usual period, Deacon Kegwin. at the age of 
eighteen years, began to work in a woollen 
factory. Subsequently he was a clerk at Vol- 
untown in the store of James S. Treat. He 
was married in [839 to Hannah, daughter 
ol Ebenezer Paine, of Windham County. She 
died in 1871, having heme three children, of 
whom two are deceased. The other child, 



236 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Henry W. Kegwin, a graduate of Brown Uni- 
versity, is now a teacher in Norwich Free 
Academy, is married, and has two daughters 
and one son, Richard P. Deacon Kegwin 
was again married on November 5, 1874, to 
Mrs. Louisa Read, the widow of Nelson Read. 
Mr. Read died in 1870, leaving one son, 
Asher N. Read, who is now married and has 
one son, Nelson G. Read. Mr. Kegwin is a 
Republican in politics, and has been very ac- 
tive in the public life of the town. He was 
Town Clerk for ten years, and has been a Jus- 
tice of the Peace and a member of the Board 
of Education for many years. Of the one 
hundred and fifty wills he has drawn, not one 
has been broken. In 1862 he was in the 
State legislature. At the age of nineteen he 
joined the Baptist church in Plainfield; and 
for much of the time since he was twenty-one 
years of age he has been a Deacon, having 
during the last sixty years served in that ca- 
pacity in three different churches. For nine 
years he was in Norwich, and was very active 
and prominent in the church there. Deacon 
Kegwin purchased his present home in Jewett 
City about thirty years ago. He was for fif- 
teen years station agent in the railroad office 
here, and in that responsible position made 
many warm friends and admirers. 



T-^NOBERT PALMER, Sr., ship-builder, 
\[\ president of the Robert Palmer 
.Ly y_ j Company at Noank, Conn., in the 
town of Groton, his native place, was born on 
May 26, 1825. His parents were John and 
Abby (Fish) Palmer. His paternal grand- 
father, Elihu Palmer, a mariner, died before 
reaching middle age; and his grandmother, 
Mrs. Annie Palmer, was left a widow with 
one child, John Palmer, named above. Mrs. 
Palmer afterward married a Mr. Ashby, and 



had five children, four sons and a daughter, of 
whom two sons are living. 

John Palmer, who was born about the year 
1786, was quite young when his father, Elihu, 
died; and he went to live with his grandfather 
Palmer. Early in life he began a successful 
career as a boat and ship builder, building 
principally vessels of from fifty to sixty tons' 
burden. Of the twelve children born to him 
and his wife, formerly Abby Fish, whom he 
married in 1809, four sons and five daughters 
grew to mature years. But two of these are 
now living: Robert, the tenth child; and 
Lucy, widow of Captain Jerry Wilber, the 
uncle of her first husband, William A. Wil- 
ber. Mrs. Wilber was born in 181 1, and is 
now in her eighty-sixth year. Her only 
child, Robert T. Wilber, is a stockholder in 
the Robert Palmer Company. John Palmer 
died in July, 1869; and Abby, his wife, died 
in 1856, aged sixty-six years. 

Robert Palmer, Sr., received only an ordi- 
nary district schooling in his childhood, and 
at ten years of age went on the water here. 
When but thirteen years old he went on a 
fishing trip to Nantucket; and for several 
years after he went on fishing trips regularly 
to different places, being for two years on a 
vessel that his brother John commanded. At 
eighteen years of age he went to Stonington, 
where for a year and a half he was employed 
in a boat builder's shop. He then came to 
Groton, and worked for some years for his 
father, whom he succeeded in the business, 
about ten years prior to his parent's decease. 
It is now fifty-one years since he set up for 
himself in the ship-building business in a 
modest way. His career has been a very suc- 
cessful one; and he is a leader in his spe- 
cial line, having the largest yard for wooden 
ship building in this country, from which he 
has turned out as many as thirty-three craft 



IIMKIK Al'HICAL RKVIEW 



'37 



■ ■I various styles in a single year. The three 
Sound steamers, "Rhode Island," "Nashua," 
and "Connecticut," of from twenty-four to 
twenty-six hundred tons' burden, were built 
here. He still owns his father's old yard, 
in which boats have been built for eighty 
years; and he has established two others. 
In 1879 he started the marine railway. 

In his twenty-first year, October 15, 1845, 
Robert Palmer, Sr. , married Harriet Rogers, 
daughter of Ebenezer and Grace (Gallup) 
Rogers and grand-daughter of Gurdon Gallup. 
Seven children were born of their union, and 
a son and two daughters grew to maturity, 
namely: Jane, widow of Benjamin Humphrey, 
living in Noank, mother of one daughter; 
Harriet, wife of the Rev. William L. Swan, 
of Auburn, N.Y., who also has one daughter; 
and Robert, Jr. 

Robert Palmer, Sr., is a Republican, but 
has never participated in political affairs. 
He has been a member of the Baptist church 
since 1839, a Deacon forty-five years, and 
superintendent of the Sunday-school fifty 
years. He is president of the public library, 
called the Mystic and Noank Library, given 
to Groton by Captain Elihu Spicer, who 
named Mr. Palmer as one of the trustees. In 
1885 Mr. Palmer erected his present residence 
near his ship-yard. 

Robert Palmer, Jr., was born on February 
15, 1S56. He was educated in the schools of 
\ "ink and Mystic and at Schofield Business 
College at Providence, R.I., completing his 
Studies at the age of twenty-one. He then 
entered his father's employ, and has thor- 
ily familiarized himself with every branch 
of the business. In 1877 he was admitted I" 
partnership, the firm name being Robert 
Palmer & Son, which was afterward changed 
to Kobert Palmer & Sons; and on December 
10, 1894, when a stock company was formed 



with Robert Palmer, Sr., as president, Robert, 
Jr., became the secretary and treasurer. The 
son has proved himsell a genius as a ship- 
wright; and under his direction the company 
has built several fast boats of unique design, 
which have carried off a number of regatta 
prizes. The "Irma," built in 1894, and now 
owned by Fred Allen, of Galveston, Tex., 
was one of the first of these prize winners, 
showing remarkable adaptability for racing in 
both the calm waters of the Bay and the 
rough waters of the Gulf. She is thirty-seven 
feet long, twelve feet wide, and has a shoal 
draught. She has thrice carried off the prize, 
and is known as the "Queen of the Gulf." 
The "Novice," built a year later, a sail-boat 
twenty-seven feet long and ten feet wide, 
proved a wonder, easily distancing all class 
boats, and taking the prize over all the noted 
boats and yachts in Southern waters. She is 
of the skimming-dish type, with an overhang- 
ing end, and is both fast and seaworthy. She 
is of original design, with a centre-board, and 
demonstrates that a boat can go faster over 
the water than through it. The "Jennie," a 
steam yacht thirty-three feet long, and having 
an eight-foot beam, has been the object of 
much attention to yachtsmen along the At- 
lantic coast; and the "Gleam," a cat-boat, 
twenty-four feet long, but entering the 
twenty-foot class, built in 1895, won the first 
three of a series of races at Bushby Point, 
July 11, 25. and 31, 1896. Mr. Robert 
Palmer, Jr., is likewise a designer of lobster 
steamers, of which the company has built 
three, and now has in process of construction 
at Rockland, Me., a seventy-toot boat de- 
signed to go outside in any kind of weather, 
and bring in a cargo of eight thousand lob- 
sters. He is now building a new boat for 
racing, with which he hopes to win new 
trophies in 1897. This one is to be thirty 






BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



feel long, eleven feet wide, and is to draw not 
more than nine inches of water. 

In March, 1SS1, Mr. Robert Palmer, Jr., 
married Elizabeth L. Murphy, of Noank. 
She is a daughter of Charles and Nancy 
Murphy, the former of whom died a number 
of years ago, leaving his widow with a son 
and three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer 
have been bereft of their only son, Bernard 
Ledyard, who died March 5, 1 S 8 5 , aged two 
years and eleven months. Their dwelling is 
the old Baptist church, which Robert Palmer, 
Sr., remodelled. 

In political affiliation Robert Palmer, Jr., 
is a Republican. In 1886 he served as a Rep- 
resentative to the Connecticut legislature, 
and was a member of the Committee on Ap- 
propriations. In 1889 he was again a nomi- 
nee, but was defeated by one vote, by John 
Morgan, the opposing candidate. Mr. Palmer 
is a member of the Baptist church. 



EATHAM HULL, one of the most ca- 
pable and progressive farmers of New 
_ »*- London County, son of the late 
William B. Hull, resides at the old Hull 
homestead, now known as the Westwood Stock 
Farm, of which he is the proprietor. The 
original owner of this valuable property, 
which is situated in North Stonington, was 
one Latham Hull, an ancestor of the present 
Latham Hull, several generations removed; 
and from Latham, the first, the land and the 
name has been handed down from one genera- 
tion to another until the present time, the 
only exception being in the name of the im- 
mediately preceding owner, William I?. Hull, 
above mentioned. 

Latham Hull, grandfather of the present 

Latham, spent his entire life on the home- 

1. living to an advanced age. He was 



a Democrat in politics, and was quite promi- 
nent in public affairs, serving several terms 
as Representative to the State legislature,- 
and was one who helped divide the old town 
of Stonington when North Stonington was 
set off to form a town by itself. He mar- 
ried Elizabeth Browning, of Stonington; and 
they reared two children — William B. and 
Latham. The latter, an able business man, 
and for many years president of a bank in 
Kalamazoo, Mich., died there in 1890, leav- 
ing one daughter and a large estate. The 
grandmother lived a widow for a long lime, 
dying in 1886, at the venerable age of ninety- 
one years. 

William B. Hull in his early manhood was 
engaged in mercantile business in New York 
City; but from his birth, which occurred in 
[816, until his death in 1894, he lived at in- 
tervals on the home farm, following the occu- 
pation in which he was reared. A man of 
energy and foresight, he made many substan- 
tial improvements on the estate, which is one 
of the best as regards appointments and equip- 
ments in this vicinity. He married Miss 
Susan Wattles, daughter of Dr. Wattles, of 
this town, and was the father of four chil- 
dren — Thomas, Anna, Lucy, and Latham. 
Thomas Hull, who was educated in a military 
school, and afterward spent a year abroad, is 
now a newspaper reporter in Boston. He is 
married and has a daughter. Anna, with 
whom the widowed mother makes her home, 
is a woman of culture and accomplishments. 
She was educated in Claverack, N. V. , and at 
Grand Rapids, Mich., and is now living in 
Norwich, Conn., where she has a select kin- 
dergarten school. 

Latham Hull, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in North Stonington, Conn., Febru- 
ary 6, 1870. He acquired a good education, 
attending Storr's Agricultural College, where 




LATHAM III I.I. 



BIOGRAPHICAL KKVIEW 



-'I | 



he was graduated with the class of [890. 
Putting into practice the useful know 
there acquired, he has since been extensively 
and profitably engaged in general farming, 
dairying, and stock-raising at the old home- 
stead, which he has named Westwood Stuck 
Farm. He keeps about sixty head of stock, 
principally Jerseys, some of which are regis- 

1: and he has thirty cows in his dairy, 
which partly supplies the residents of Wes- 
terly, R.I., with milk. He has a fine silo for 
the preservation of fodder. In 1896 he built 
his handsome horse barn, in which he keeps 
six horses for his own use. All of his barns 
and stables are furnished with water, the 
]iower also supplying water for the house, 
which is over one hundred years old, but is in 
excellent condition. His stock is well known 
throughout this region, and at the fairs held 
in Xew London Mr. Hull has received many 
premiums. Politically, he is an active and 

1 Democrat; and in [893 he represented 
North Stonington in the State legislature, 
being one of the youngest legislators in that 
body. 

In September, 1895, Mr. Hull married 
Miss Angie Brown, of North Stonington, a 

liter of the late Stephen E. and Mary 

en) Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Hull have one 
child, Ethel Louise, who was born in April, 
1896. 

LONZO II. HARRIS, business man- 
ager, secretary, and treasurer of the 
'^ V_^ Bulletin Company, Norwich, was 
bom in this town. September 18. 1854, his 
nts being Henry and Sarah W. ( Dodge) 
Harris. Henry Harris was born in Bozrah in 
[817, and died in Si r, 1 .S 5 7 . He and 

his wit.-, Sarah, had three children, oi whom 
laughter died in early childhood, and one- 
is still living. 




Alonzo II. Harris was educated in the com- 
mon and high schools. At the age of four- 
teen he became a clerk in the bookstore oi 
Morgan Safford iS: Co., in whose employ h 
mained for four years. In March, [873, he 
entered the Bulletin Compam as clerk. 

Seven years later, in May, 1880, he was made 
business manager, which position he occupied 
for four years. He then retired from the man- 
agement, but still remained in the employ oi 
the company. In June, 1888, he was re-elected 
secretary, treasurer, and business manager, 
and up to the present time has continued to 
attend to the duties of these several offices, in 
which his fine executive ability has found a 
wide scope for exercise. The fidelity he has 
shown to the interests of the company has 
further proved his fitness for his present posi- 
tion. Mr. Harris is a Mason, belonging to 
St. James Lodge, Franklin Chapter, and the 
Council. Politically, he is a Republican; 
but, although interested in local affairs and 
well informed in regard to all public move- 
ments, he has had no wish to enter politics. 

On October 27, 1880, Mr. Harris was 
united in marriage with Ida F., daughter oi 
Stephen and Margaret S. (Frink) Sylvester 
Mr. Sylvester is no longer living, but his 
widow is a resident of Norwich. She has one 
daughter besides Mis. Harris. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hands have a pleasant horn Union 

Street. 




i 



HARLES II. BABCOCK, su] 
tendent of tin' public schools of 
Westerly, R.I., a position for which 
he is well fitted by natural abilities and 
scholarly acquirements, is a resident of the 
village of Pawcatuck, on tin' 
the river, in the town of Stonington, New 
London ( lounl v. I !onn. I [e was born Jul}- i<>, 
1838, in the town of Groton, this State, but 



242 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



is of Rhode Island stock, his father, the late 
Charles Babcock, of Stonington, having been 
a native of Westerly and a lineal descendant, 
it is said, of John and Mary (Lawton) Bab- 
cock, pioneer settlers of that locality. 

Among the twenty-four free inhabitants of 
Westerly, R.I., in 1669, the year in which 
the town was incorporated, were James Bab- 
cock, Sr., James Babcock, Jr., and John Bab- 
cock, the two latter, no doubt, sons of the 
elder James. John Babcock, born in 1644, 
married Mary Lawton; and their son James is 
said to have been the first white child born in 
the new settlement. 

Henry Babcock, great - grandfather of 
Charles H., born in Westerly in 1755, son of 
Daniel Babcock, was a grandson of Captain 
James Babcock, and is reputed to have been 
a near kinsman of Colonel Harry Babcock of 
Revolutionary fame. He and his wife Pru- 
dence had eight children. The eldest of 
these, Henry Babcock, Jr., a master mariner, 
who commanded a merchant vessel, and for 
many years was engaged in the West India 
trade, was born at Westerly, R.I. , in 1779, 
and died at his home in that town in the sev- 
entieth year of his age. His wife, Fanny, 
who was a daughter of Timothy West, of 
Rhode Island, an officer of some note in the 
Revolution, died in 1866, at the age of three- 
score and ten, having reared two sons and four 
daughters, one son being Charles, the father 
above named. One child is now living — 
Rhoda, widow of the late Matthew Barber, of 
Westerly. 

Charles Babcock, son of Captain Henry and 
Fanny (West) Babcock, was born in Westerly, 
in April, 181 5. After his marriage, which 
took place in 1835, he removed to Stonington, 
where he was engaged as a tiller of the soil 
during his active years. His wife's maiden 
name was Lovisa Brown. She was born in 



1812, in the town of Ledyard, this county, 
and was a daughter of Samuel Brown, who 
married a Miss Latham. Ten children, four 
sons and six daughters, were born to Charles 
and Lovisa B. Babcock; and of these three 
have passed away, one having died in infancy, 
and John W. and Abbie J. in mature life. 
John W. Babcock went to Kansas for his 
health, and died there when about thirty years 
old, in 1 87 1, leaving a widow. Abbie J., the 
widow of John H. Cross, of Stonington, died 
at the age of thirty years. The children now 
living are as follows: Charles H., the special 
subject of this biographical sketch; William, 
a physician in Connecticut; Erastus W. , a 
resident of Stonington borough; Amanda M. 
of Stonington; Mary N., the widow of Rowse 
P. Babcock, of Stonington borough; Sarah 
F., wife of Captain Amos Dickens, of this 
town; and Helen M., wife of Captain Jesse 
W. Hall, also of Stonington. The mother, 
Lovisa B. Babcock, died in Stonington in 
1 886; and the father, Charles Babcock, died 
there in 1889. 

Charles H. Babcock was graduated from the 
East Greenwich Academy when about nine- 
teen years of age, in 1857. Choosing the 
profession of teacher, he met with marked 
success, not only in imparting knowledge, but 
in winning the love and respect of his pupils 
and as a disciplinarian, and has since contin- 
ued his labors in the educational field, teach- 
ing more or less in this vicinity. Since 1872, 
or for twenty-four consecutive years, he has 
been a member of the Stonington School Board, 
an office in which he has rendered the town 
most valuable aid; and for the past five years 
he has been superintendent of the schools of 
Westerly, R.I., the home of his ancestors for 
several generations. Mr. Babcock has also 
served in the various township offices. He 
has been Assessor a number of terms and Jus- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



• I | 



tice of the Peace fifteen years. In 1S71 he 
was nominated on the Republican ticket as 
a Representative to the State legislature, but 

was defeated. Fraternally, he is a Master 
Mason, belonging to Pawcatuck Lodge, A. F. 
& A. M. 

tin March 30, [863, Mr. Babcock married 
Miss Abbie II. Hinckley, a daughter of 
Henry and Prudence Mary (Chesebro) Hinck- 
ley, of this town. She died March 14, 1883, 
d forty-two years. She had been the 
mother of four children, namely: a son that 
1 in infancy; Harry II., a druggist, who 
died at the early age of twenty years; .Anna 
Lincoln, who is the wife of Dr. John II. El- 
dredge, of Norwich, and has four children ; and 
Edith Vincent, a graduate of the Norwich 
Business College, and a teacher, who now has 
the care of her lather's house, having given up 
her persona] ambitions to devote herself to 
him and a half-sister, Mai)' Emma. This 
chilil, a bright and winning little girl, is Mr. 
Hancock's daughter by his second wife, for- 
merly Mary Emma Gardner, whom he married 
in August, 1884, and who died in Jul)', 1892, 
thirty-seven years. Mr. Babcock has 
01 ' upied his pleasant home at Pawcatuck since 
in; 2. 



6]"7le< 



♦-••^■» 



HEODORE F. POWERS, whose an- 
. I cestors were among the early settlers of 
Connecticut in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, is a well-known and honored resident and 
native of Waterford. lie was born in 1839, 
on the Powers homestead, son of Phillip M. 
and Abbie Maria (Havens) Powers. The 
father, born on the same farm in 1814, was a 
son of Joshua, who was born in Lyme, Conn., 
October 24, 1783, son of Joshua and Elizabeth 
Powers. The founder of the family, Joshua 
Powers, came from Ireland in 1674. Joshua, 
the grandfather of Theodore F., settled on 



this farm nearly a hundred years ago. lie 
married Wealthy Morgan, of Waterford, and 
had two sons and four daughters, all of whom 
married, had families, and lived to nearly 
threescore years of age. Wealthy Morgan 
Powers died at a comparatively early age, and 
Joshua Powers at the age of sixty-three years. 
One of their sons, Joshua, who was a carpen- 
ter by trade, went to Minnesota when a young 
man. He died there at sixty-nine years of 
age, leaving three children. 

Phillip M. Powers was a successful agricult- 
urist, and in later years ran the Jordan grist- 
mill. He and Abbie Maria Havens were 
married June 8, 1836, when he was twenty 
years old, and she was eighteen. She was a 
daughter of Silas Havens, of Lyme, and his 
wife, Sabra (Griffin) Havens. Mrs. Havens 
died in 1826, leaving five children; and he 
afterward married her sister, who had by him 
twelve children. Mrs. Abbie Maria Powers 
has but one own sister living, Mrs. Eliza 
Crocker, of Clinton. John Havens, the father 
of Silas, and his two brothers came from Eng- 
land. One of the brothers settled on Long 
Island, and the other went to the West. 
John was with General Israel Putnam on his 
famous ride. His wife, Mary Havens, who 
was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, died 
aged ninety-nine years ami seven months, and 
the inscription on her tombstone is the oldest 
in the cemetery. Phillip M. and Abbie 
Maria Powers had eight children, three sons 
and five daughters, of whom Theodore !•'., 
Phillip II., and Fannie C. are living. Theo- 
dore was the first son and second child. 
Phillip II., who was Formerly first mate on a 
steamship, is in the employ of the Russian 
Fur Company, and now resides in Kob . 
Japan, where he went with the Japanese em- 
bassy in i860. He has a wife and four chil- 
dren. Fannie C. is the wife of James G. 



?44 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Marthers, and resides in Middletown, Conn. 
The father died in June, 1889. 

Theodore F. Powers received a common- 
school education. When fourteen years old 
he engaged in the fishery business. At six- 
teen he went on a whaling bark, the 
"Tenedos," as harpooner or boat steerer, and 
was gone three years. He was subsequently 
on the schooner "Emma Rooke," of one hun- 
dred and fifty-seven tons' burden, built by 
Samuel Miller in New London for Thomas 
Hobron, for service as a packet between Hon- 
olulu and Latrina, and which he steered for 
half the voyage from New London to Hono- 
lulu. Having followed the sea lor twelve 
years all together, he in 1865 went to Will 
County, Illinois, and there purchased a farm, 
which he carried on for nine years. Then he 
returned in 1874 to his native town, where he 
has been the miller of the Jordan grist-mill. 
This mill, which was erected by James 
Rogers, an ancestor of Mr. Powers, was the 
outcome of a controversy between Mr. Rogers 
and Governor Winthrop. Built in 181 2, it 
was chartered in New London, December 26, 
1709: ami it was conducted by James Powers, 
an uncle of Mr. Powers, for many years. Mr. 
Powers opened the Great Neck stone quarry 
now owned by Booth Brothers, who are doing 
a large business. 

On October 9, 1861, Mr. Powers married 
Sarah S. Briggs, of Waterford. Two daugh- 
ters have been born to them, namely: Nellie 
A., the wife of William H. Rogers, a locomo- 
tive engineer on the New London & Northern 
Railroad, residing in New London; and E. 
Willimene, who became the wife of George 
E. Ryley, and died April 15, 1 S96, when but 
eighteen years old. In politics Mr. Powers is 
a Republican. He has served for one year in 
the legislature, has been Town Treasurer for 
three years and Town Auditor for two years. 



He was a charter member of Relief Lodge, 
No. 37, A. O. U. W., of Waterford, and 
served the organization in the capacity of re- 
ceiver for the first eight years. Both he and 
Mrs. Powers are members of the First Baptist 
Church. While a resident of Plainfield he 
was the Sunday-school superintendent for 
eight years, and since he came to Waterford 
he has served in the same capacity for ten 
years. 

« m» m » 

OSEPH HALL, senior member of the 
firm of blall Brothers, manufacturers 
of woollen goods at Hallville, in the 
town of Preston, Conn., was born in Hudders- 
field, England, on May S, 1840, son of Joseph 
and Ann (Ague) Hall. His paternal grand- 
father was James Hall, who died at Hud- 
dersfield, at the age of eighty-seven, and is 
buried at Thornhill, England. He was a 
farmer by occupation. 

Joseph Hall, first, son of James, was born 
in England, and there grew to manhood, and 
was married. He came to America in 1841; 
and his wife and children followed him a year 
later, coming in a sailing-vessel of the Black 
Ball Line, and being eleven weeks on the pas- 
sage from Liverpool to New York City. The 
unusual length of the voyage was on account 
of the detention of the ship for having smug- 
gled goods on board. Mr. Joseph Hall, first, 
was a weaver by trade; and, though he came 
to this country without cash capital, he was 
soon engaged in establishing a small mill at 
Cedar Hill, Dutchess County, New York. 
After being there for about two years, manu- 
facturing carpet yarn, he removed to Wash- 
ington Hollow in the same county, where he 
established and carried on for nine years a 
manufactory for carpet yarns. His plant was 
then burned; and upon that event he removed, 
in 1852, to Poquetanuck, New London 




JOSEPH HALL. 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEW 



2 17 



County, Conn., where he worked as a shoddy 
picker for about four years in the mill of 
Frank Loomis. Going then to Cooktown in 
company with Isaac Cook, he was there em- 
ployed in the carpet yarn factory for four 
At the end of that time he came to 
Preston, where about a hundred years previous 
.1 cloth-mill had been established on the site 
ol the present mill, by a Mr. Kennedy, 
and began in a small way the manufact- 
ure of carpet yarn. Joseph Hall, first, died 
in [86i, at the age of fifty-four, leaving his 
widow with six children, four oi whom were 
in England and the othei two in New 
York. A brief record of the family is as fol- 
lows: Sarah, widow of Henry McCrary, now 

ling at Poquetanuck; Elizabeth, widow of 

iles \V. Bedent, also at Poquetanuck; Jo- 
seph, Benjamin, .md George, constituting the 
firm of Hall Brothers; and Harriet, who died 
in i88o, in the prime of life, the wife ol 

liner Wilcox. Their mother, Mrs. Ann 
A. Hall, died in [868, aged forty-seven years. 
I he subject of this sketch has an aunt, 
Mary, now living in England, a well-pre- 
served la vcntv-si\ years, and the wife 
ines Brown. Another aunt, Eliza, is the 
widow ut Joseph Oile, of Dewsbury, England. 
Two uncles, George and James, both lived and 
died in England. The former was one of the 
wealthy citizens of Dewsbury, England. 

Joseph Hall, of the firm of Hall Brothers, 

in working in his father's yarn-mill when 
only eight years of age. His early educa- 
tional opportunities were limited, and he at- 
tended school after he was sixteen years of 

only two winter terms. At twenty-two 
N'eai's of age he became associated in the man- 

turing business with Dwight Cook, who 
had been his father's partner for two years. 
The building then used by the company was 
about thirty by forty feet, two stories in 



height, and fitted with one set ol machinery. 
Some four or five later two sets more 

were added, and the building was cnlai 
About six years alter the death oi the elder 
Mr. Hall, Mr. Cook retired from the business, 
and the three brothers who now constitute the 
lii in became sole proprietors. In 1878 the 
mill was destroyed by fire, and a loss of sev- 
eral thousand dollars ensued. A brick build- 
ing, thirty-two by seventy-five feet, was, how- 
ever, soon erected in place of the Former 
wooden structure. This was devoted to scour- 
ing wool, and was in operation for about two 
years. In 1880 the Messrs. Hall built a part 
ol the present mill, and began the manufact- 
ure of ladies' dress goods, cloaking, etc. 
This new mill contained lour sets of machin- 
ery. In 1882 an addition was built, and Inn 
sets more put up. In 1 888 the Mohegan mill, 
a four-set mill in the town of Montville, was 
bought; and during the last eight or nine 
years, despite the hard times, these mills have 
been kept in operation, the goods being sold 
in New York. The business done annually 
amounts to four hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars, and about one hundred ami twenty 
men are employed. This presents a strong- 
contrast to tin- lust year when Mr. Hall be- 
connected with the firm. Mr. Hall him- 
self then did the teaming, and the live hands 
employed received four cents per pound for 
making yarn, and earned about five dollars a 
day. The plant, now one of the most pros- 
perous in this section, has a wide reputation 
for turning out first-class product. 

Mr. Hall was married at twenty-five years 
of age to Sarah Rogers, of Ledyard, daughter 
of James and Esther (Crouch) Rogers. Three 
children have been bom to them; namely, 
Fannie and Flora (twins), and Joseph. 
Fannie is the wife of Frank C. Turner, of 
Norwich. Flora Hall, who resides with Mrs. 



248 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Turner, was educated in the Boston Conserva- 
tory of Music, and is a pianist of merit. Jo- 
seph Hall, third, who is a young man of much 
ability, formerly a student in Harvard Uni- 
versity, has charge of the mill as superintend- 
ent. He designs many of the patterns used 
by the firm. Mrs. Sarah Hall died in 1873, 
at the age of thirty -five; and Mr. Hall married 
in 1878, for his second wife, Carrie B. Lucas, 
of Poquetanuck. By this marriage the fol- 
lowing named children have been born: 
Grace, Raymond, Dorothy, Amanda, and 
Ralph Gardner. 

Mr. Hall is a Republican in politics. He 
has not cared to serve in public office. In re- 
ligious faith he is Episcopalian. Hallville, 
which was built in 1880, covers about eighty 
acres of ground, and numbers thirty-two fam- 
ilies. Mr. Hall and his brother have built 
fine residences here. The mill and annexes 
cover about four acres. 



(SYOHN WILLIAM KEENEY, for many 
years a farmer and latterly an exten- 
sive land-owner of Waterford, Conn., 
died at his home in this town, February 8, 
1892, at the age of seventy-five years. He is 
survived by his wife, Mrs. Frances A. E. 
Keeney, who before marriage was Miss F ranees 
Ann E. Chappell, and by four sons — John 
William, Jr., Frank, Griswold, and George. 

Mr. Keeney's paternal grandfather, whose 
name was William, was four times married. 
By his first wife, formerly a Miss Moore, he 
had four sons and one daughter, as follows: 
Ezra; Joseph, who went to Xew York State; 
John, father of John VV. ; William; and Bet- 
sey, who married Baruch Beckwith. All 
these are now deceased. Grandfather Keeney 
died at the age of seventy-one, his fourth 
wife, born Chapell, surviving him five or six- 



years. They had one daughter, Mary, wife of 
Thomas Manwaring, now dead. 

John Keeney, third son of William and 
father of the subject of this sketch, was a 
farmer, beginning life as a poor boy and by 
his own industry and enterprise securing a 
good estate. He married Eliza Darrow, and 
they reared three sons and one daughter. 
Allen A. Keeney, the only son now living, is 
a farmer on the old farm ; and the daughter, 
Sarah Eliza Keeney, is with her sister-in-law, 
Mrs. Frances Keeney. The father died at the 
age of seventy-one, and the mother some five 
years later, at the age of sixty years. 

John W. Keeney and Frances Ann E. 
Chappell, daughter of the Rev. Gurdon Tracy 
Chappell, were married at Lake Pond, on the 
13th of October, 1839, by Elder Francis Dar- 
row. Mrs. Keeney was born at Lake Pond, 
November 19, 1819. Her father was pastor 
of the Baptist church at that place, and was 
a noble, broad-minded man, full of charity for 
all, reaching out a generous heart and hand far 
beyond the borders of his own denomination. 
He announced to the people that it was his 
desire to see ten persons band together to or- 
ganize a liberal church ; and the fine Baptist 
church at Lake Pond, now standing, was built 
by him and a few others who were unwilling 
that he should bear the full expense. He 
preached many years without receiving any 
salary, and at his death left a fund for the 
poor whom he was in the habit of seeking out 
and visiting. He had a fine property, most of 
which was accumulated by his own energy and 
industry. His wife was Mary Ann Avery, a 
lady of education and refinement, descended 
from the notable Avery family famous in the 
annals of the Revolution, and well fitted by 
birth and breeding to occupy the position of 
a clergyman's helpmate. Thirteen of her 
family connections spilled their blood at Fort 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



249 



Griswold. She was married to Rev. Gurdon 
I Chappell, when about twenty years of age, 
and died March 20, [88o, nearly fifty-nine 
years alter. Her husband died in 1876, at 
enty-five years of age. Their children 
numbered eleven, of whom Mrs. Keeney was 
the eldest. One son and a daughter died in 
infancy. 

Mr. Keeney and his wife began life as 
tenant farmers near New London, where he 
had a milk route for three years. He then 
engaged in farming for two years on .Mrs. 
Keeney's home farm at Lake Pond; and for 
the next two or three years he was in the meat 
business at Montville. In [853 Mr. Keeney 
went to California by way of the Isthmus of 
Panama, leaving Mrs. Keeney with three chil- 
dren at home with her parents. After four 
of successful business venture in Cali- 
fornia, Mr. Keeney returned and bought a 
farm here. He added to this in later years, 
and at the time of his death owned many hun- 
dreds of acres of land in different parcels. 
He was a member of the church and a de- 
voted Christian. 

John William Keeney, Jr., eldest son of 
John W. and Frances A. E. (Chappell) 
Keeney, is a merchant in VVaterford. He is 
married a second time, and has one son. 
Prank Keeney, the second son, living in New 
York City, married Clara Robinson in 1875. 
He is in company with his brothei George in 
the linn oi Keeney Brothers, fish dealers in 
Fulton Market, established many years since 
and now carrying on a very prosperous busi- 
ness. Griswold Keeney, who is in the same 
business at [O Fulton Street Market, in com- 
pany with Benjamin Wallace, married Fannie 
Nugent, and has had one daughter, now de- 
ceased. The fifth child, George Keeney, 
married Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Ed- 
ward Luce, and has two children — Mildred 



and Edward. Another son, Allen F. Keeney, 
died August 26, 1857, in infancy. 




OLLIS HYDK PALMER, a success- 
ful farmer of Preston, was born on 
the family homestead in this town, 
August 13, 1850, being the son of Charles 
and Lucy A. (Hyde) Palmer. He is a repre- 
sentative of the eighth generation in descent 
from his original American ancestor, Thomas 
Palmer, who was one of the founders of Row- 
ley, Mass., in 1639, an£ l died there in 1669. 

Thomas, grandson of the original Thomas 
Palmer, removed from Rowley to Norwich, 
Conn., and purchased there in 1723 the farm 
on which the subject of this sketch now lives, 
so that the latter is the sixth owner in lineal 
descent of property that has been one hundred 
and seventy-five years in the family. Jede- 
diah Palmer, grandson of the second Thomas 
Palmer, headed a petition whereby that part 
of Norwich lying east of the Quinnebaug 
River was set off in 1786 to Preston. His 
ancestral estate lay within the tract so ceded. 
He was one of the moneyed men of his time 
in his town, which intrusted him with various 
public offices. He married Esther Read, and 
had besides other children Walter, born in 
1766, the grandfather of Ilollis II. 

Walter Palmer was by occupation a sur- 
veyor in early life, and later a tanner. IP- 
was a Deacon in the "strict Congregational " 
church of the so-called "Separatists" and a 
Justice of the Peace, and he also served in the 
legislature. He died in 1833, in the sixty- 
eighth year of his age. An interesting diary 
of his, kept when surveying in the lake region 
of Central New York, 17S9-90, is still in 
existence. On March 25, 1792, he married 
Martha Pendleton, daughter of Joshua Pen- 
dleton, of Westerly, R. I., a 1 in the 



2qo 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



war of the Revolution. Twelve children 
were the fruit of their union, one son being 
Charles (deceased), father of the subject of 
this sketch. Colonel Edwin Palmer, now liv- 
ing in Norwich at the age of ninety-two, is 
the sixth child and third son. The other sur- 
viving members of the family are: Mary Ann, 
widow of Luther Pellett, also of Norwich; 
and Joseph P., the youngest son, who resides 
in the town of Andover, Tolland Count}-, 
Conn. 

Charles Palmer was born in 1807 on the old 
farm, and here spent a long and useful life. 
He married Lucy A., daughter of Elijah and 
Lydia (Burnham) Hyde, and had four chil- 
dren, as follows: Charles L., Lydia A., 
Martha A., and Hollis Hyde. Charles L. 
Palmer is a merchant of Irwin, Pa., is married, 
and has a family. Lydia A. Palmer was a 
school teacher. She died at the age of 
twenty-five. The father died here in 1887. 
He was an exemplary member of the Congre- 
gational church, a man of sterling character 
and marked integrity, cpjiet and unostenta- 
tious in habit, genial and kindly in disposi- 
tion, a true son of a pious ancestry. Mrs. 
Lucy A. Palmer, surviving her husband, lives 
with her daughter, Martha A., at Preston 
City. 

Hollis Hyde Palmer was educated in the 
schools of Preston and in a school at Hanover, 
Conn., where he was a student one term. He 
married October 23, 1877, Lydia E. Davis, 
the only daughter of Oliver, and Emily J. 
(Crary) Davis, of Preston. She has five 
brothers. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have lived on 
this and the adjoining farm since their mar- 
riage, having purchased in 1889 the Palmer 
homestead of two hundred and twenty-six 
acres. Mr. Palmer has a well-managed and 
very productive farm. He raises grass, corn, 
and potatoes in large quantities, and, keep- 



ing twenty grade Jersey cows, sells the cream 
and milk: while Mrs. Palmer has fine flocks of 
turkeys and chickens. They have four chil- 
dren — Clara M., Frank H., Mary E., and 
Emily Crary. The eldest daughter has a taste 
for books. She is a student in the Williman- 
tic Normal School. Frank H., the only son, 
now seventeen years of age, assists his father 
on the farm. The younger daughters are both 
in school. 

Mr. Palmer is a member of the Preston 
City Grange, No. no, of which he is Master. 
He is Republican in his political views and 
affiliations, and has served as Selectman (as 
did several of his ancestors before him) and 
upon the Board of Assessors. In religion he 
is a Congregationalist, and is the superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school at the present 
time. 



7"V-\PTAIN JAMES V. LUCE, a well- 
I Sf known manufacturer of East Lyme, 

v J? ^ - Conn., is native of the island of 
Martha's Vineyard, where the family is nu- 
merously represented and much respected. He 
was born May 14, 183S, son of Cathcart and 
Mary Luce. His paternal grandfather, a resi- 
dent of the Vineyard, was a master mariner, 
and followed the sea for many years. Cath- 
cart Luce was in the whaling business until 
about fifty years of age. In 1838 or 1839 he 
came to East Lyme, where he settled on his 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and here 
spent the rest of his life. He had a family of 
nine children, five sons and four daughters, 
all of whom grew to maturity, and all married 
except Charles, who went to California among 
the "forty-niners," and died there at the age 
of twenty-seven. The living children of this 
family are: Edward and John, of Niantic; and 
Captain James V., of Lyme. 

James V. Luce passed his boyhood on his 




^ 



p 




\ 



» 




JAMES V. LUCE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKVY 



2 53 



father's farm, now his own property; and, in- 
deed, the old home has been his residence 
during his life, excepting the live years that 
lie spent in Virginia, where he was operating 
a stamp-mill in quartz gold mining. He 
began in the fish-oil and guano business with 
his brothers in the year 1857 on Giant's Neck, 
a mile from the farm. Starting in a small 
way, they gradually extended the business 
until they have had factories in Delaware, at 
Portland, Me., in Long Island, and on Rocky 
N'eek in this county, also a floating factory, 
which was stationed at Oyster Bay, ami later 
at Prince's Lay, and at other points wherever 

were most plentiful. Their factories 
cost from ten thousand to twenty thousand dol- 

each, and the expense ol running them 
has some years been over eighty thousand dol- 
lars. For the past ten years the)' have oper- 
ated but two factories, one in Delaware and 
the one here. At one time Luce Brothers 
owned and ran four steamers in their business, 
these being from one hundred and fifty to two 
hundred tons' burden. Their trade has been 
altogether wholesale. In 1896 they engaged 
in the manufacture of phosphates, sending out 
selling agents. The factory of Luce Brothers 
is 1 large building fitted in the most perfect 
and elaborate manner tor the guano and phos- 
phate manufacture, and conducted on most 
energetic and business-like principles. Cap- 
tain Luce owns ten acres of land on Rocky 
Neck, and has operated the stone quarry there 
for the past fifteen years, doing considerable 
business in shipping rock for building sea 
walls and other substructures. 

At the age of twenty-three Captain Luce 
was married to Sophia A. Havens, of this 
town, daughter of Silas Havens. She died 
May 23, 1882, leaving no children. The 
Captain married for his second wife Terrie 
!•'. Havens, sister of the first Mrs. Luce. By 



this union there are two children: Laura S., 
aged eleven years; and bavin J., aged ten. 
Captain and Mrs. Luce are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, the former being 
an active and efficient officer in the church. 




SCAR MAXSON BARBER, M.D., 

a successful medical practitioner in 
Mystic, was born in Hopkinton, R.I.. 
June 25, [837, sun of Franklin and Lydia \V. 
(Maxson) Barber. His ancestors were Welsh. 
Scotch, and English. The founder of the 
family in America, Moses Barber, was in 
Rhode Island in 1652. The great-grandpar- 
ents of Oscar M. were Joseph and Deliverance 
Barber. The maiden name of the litter was 
not changed by marriage. Joseph was a ship- 
builder in Westerly, R.I. In 1804 he built 
the "Dauphin," which was the first whaler 
built in that locality; and he was its principal 
owner. She sailed from New London, Sep- 
tember 6, [805. Sprague, son of Joseph, was 
a sea captain in Westerly. He married I 
Stillman, a daughter of Colonel George Still- 
man, of Westerly, R.I. Sprague Barber and 
his wife reared several sons and daughters. 

Franklin Barber, son of Sprague, was born 
in Westerly in 1808. He removed to M. 
in 1849. In the same year he became inter- 
ested in a woollen factory that was established 
by the Greenman Company. He married 
Lydia \Y. Maxson, of Hopkinton, R.I. They 
had four children, of whom two died in in- 
fancy. The others are: Oscar M.: and his 
brother Leander, who also resides here. The 
father died in Mystic in 1856. The mother, 
now in her eightieth year, is an honored mem- 
ber of the Daughters of the Revolution. Her 
earliest known ancestor, the Rev. John Max- 
son, born in 1638, was a minister of the 
Seventh Hay Baptist denomination. His son 



! 54 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



John was one of the organizers of the town of 
Westerly in 1660. The Rev. John Crandal), 
who was also one of the organizers, was 
another maternal ancestor. He died in 1676. 
Phineas Crandall, who was horn in Westerly, 
April 7, 1743, died at the age of ninety. His 
daughter Eliza, the great -great-aunt of Oscar 
Maxson, was a resident of Rhode Island, and 
died in 1897, aged ninety-five years. On the 
old Colonial records and in those of the Revo- 
lution and of the War of 18 12 will be found 
several of the names of other ancestors as well 
as the foregoing. Grandfather Maxson was a 
Captain during the latter war. 

Oscar Maxson Barber, after attending the 
common schools and Mystic Academy, studied 
in the New York Homoeopathic College, from 
which he was graduated in the class of 1871. 
He then entered upon his profession in 
Mystic, which had been his home since he 
was eleven years old. He succeeded to the 
practice of Dr. A. W. Brown, and his success- 
ful work now covers a quarter of a century. 
In politics he affiliates with the Republican 
party. He is Health Officer of Stonington, 
Conn. In 1889 he attended the Paris Exposi- 
tion, and in 1892 he made a European tour, 
returning with much food for thought; and 
he was also a visitor to the World's Fair at 
Chicago. 



/^JuRDON F. ALLYN, farmer and 
V ST auctioneer of Salem, New London 
County, Conn., was born at Gale's 
Ferry, in the town of Ledyard, this State, 
October 1, 1826, son of Gurdon L. and Sarah 
S. (Bradford) Allyn. His paternal grand- 
father, Nathan Allyn, was the captain of a 
merchantman sailing to the West India 
Islands. He married a Miss Lester, by whom 
he had three children — Hannah, Nathan, and 



Gurdon L. His death occurred on a return 
voyage from the West Indies, and he was 
buried at sea. Mrs. Allyn survived her hus- 
band, and lived a widow for many years, dying 
at the age of eighty. Her daughter Hannah 
married John D. Bradford. Both sons fol- 
lowed the sea. Gurdon L. Allyn, who was 
the third child, sailed with his father when 
only eleven years of age. He became the 
master of a vessel at the age of twenty-two, 
and later was part owner of many vessels and 
in various enterprises. He made two whaling 
voyages, one- of two and one of four years' 
duration; and he shipped guano off the coast 
of Africa, on the Island of Ichaboe, when this 
rich deposit was first opened up. He had 
previously known of this new product, and 
thought of going to Africa; but, when he 
made his first trip, the English had opened it, 
and he paid twenty-five hundred dollars for 
the privilege of using one of the stagings, the 
only wharf there. He was also in the guano 
trade from Patagonia. An active, enterpris- 
ing, and rather adventurous man, making and 
losing large sums by his open-handed ways 
and confiding nature, he left at the time of 
his death only a fair estate. He participated 
in the Civil War in the war vessel "St. Law- 
rence," of which he was acting master, though 
not the captain. While in Hampton Roads 
the vessel was fired upon by the rebels, and 
some of the flying shot and shell entered the 
cabin, one cutting off a leg of the table at 
which he was seated, engaged in writing. 
Coming from Gale's Ferry to Salem in 1839, 
he purchased a farm, a grist-mill, and a saw- 
mill, and had his home here until 1S63. He 
left the sea at the age of eighty, and spent 
his last years at Gale's Ferry, dying in 1891, 
at the age of ninety -two. His wife, who was 
a daughter of Adonijah Fitch and Sarah (Dol- 
beare) Bradford, died two years before at the 



\ 




(ll'KUnX F. ALLYN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



*S7 



age of eighty-nine. They had five children, 
of whom three lived to maturity. The first- 
born, an infant son, died in infancy; Gurdon 
F. was the second child; James M. died on 
the Isthmus of Panama on his way from Peru 

alifornia in 1X55, at the age of twenty- 
three years; the fourth child died young; and 
the fifth, Sarah I'".., wife of Thomas Latham, 
il I lale's Ferry. 
Mr. Gurdon I'". Allyn was educated at 

1 Academy. On March 7, 1851, he mar- 
ried Sarah Raymond Dolbeare, a native of 
Lyme and a daughter of John and 
Eunice (Morgan) Dolbeare, of East Haddam. 
Mr. and Mrs. Allyn have no children; hut 
they have fostered one boy, Herbert E. Beard, 
who is now a dealer or travelling trader in 
milk and produce. He is married and has 

son. Mr. and Mrs. Allyn came to their 
present home about thirty-three years ago. 
The farm consists of one hundred and forty- 
five acres, for which they paid twenty-three 
hundred dollars. The house is more than a 
century old, and was in former days the half- 
way tavern on the stage road from Essex to 
Norwich. 

Mr. Allyn is an adherent of the Republican 
party, has served as First Selectman, has 
represented Salem in the legislature at three 
different times, has also been School Yisi- 

ind has held other minor offices. He is 
a Deacon oi the Congregational church and 

rintendent of the Sunday-school. He has 
e town auctioneer for the past twenty- 
five years; and, though he began the business 
with diffident e, he lias abundantly proved his 
skill and efficiency in conducting public 
Although the greater part of his life 
has been spent as a landsman and in New 
London County, Mr. Allyn has travelled and 
seen something of the world. When nineteen 
years of age he sailed with his father to the 



coast of Africa, and on the return voyage 
visited the grave ol Napoleon on the Isle of 
St. Helena. 




RS. SARAH M. MORGAN, 
witlow of Edward Morgan, resides 
upon her farm in Waterford, six 
miles north of New London. She is the only 
child of George and Sarah (Powers) Gibson, 
both of this section of the country. Her 
grandfather resided in New London until his 
house was sacked and burned by the British in 
17S1, when he settled on the farm now owned 
by Mts. Morgan. Her father died here, 
March 23, 1835; and his widow died Novem- 
ber 24, 1S53, at the age of sixty-four years. 
They are buried in the Cedar Grove Ceme- 
tery at New London. 

Miss Gibson married Edward Morgan, Oc- 
tober 15, 1837, son of Guy and Nancy (Gris- 
wold) .Morgan. Mr. Morgan's grandfather 
was a man of force and character. He settled 
in Ohio in the early days, taking all his chil- 
dren but his oldest son Justus, whom he left 
on the old farm. He died suddenly in Ohio, 
just past middle life, having accumulated con- 
siderable property. His wife was a Pickett, 
of Wyoming County, New York. His son 
Guy was born in Wethersfield, Conn. He 
took up wild land in Wyoming County. His 
wife belonged to a good family of Wethers- 
field. 

Mr. Edward Morgan was born at Wethers- 
ford Springs, August 18, 1818, and died 
March 12. 1SS8, during the great and memo- 
rable blizzard of that year. The snow em- 
bargo was so complete that the news of his 
death could only be telegraphed to his family 
at Hartford by a, cable sent to England, hack 
to Huston, and thence to Hartford. He was a 
prominent citizen, a man of military tastes, 
and was Captain of a company for many 



2S 8 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



years. Mrs. Morgan reared eight of her 
twelve children — ■ Nancy, Martha M., Stanley 
G., Stephen, Rovvena, Strong, Kittie Lu- 
cretia, and Lottie. Nancy is the wife of 
Edgar R. Smith, of Wethersfield, and has two 
daughters; Martha M., wife of Henry Way in 
East Lyme, has one daughter and a son ; Stan- 
ley G. , a farmer in the vicinity, has two 
daughters and one son, all bright and interest- 
ing children; Stephen is unmarried, and re- 
mains at the homestead, carrying on the farm; 
Rovvena, widow of Martin Cadwell, has two 
daughters; Strong is unmarried, and is a com- 
mercial traveller, located at Meriden, Conn.; 
Kittie Lucretia is at home; and Lottie is the 
wife of Frank S. Seymour, of Hartford, and 
has one son and a daughter. Mrs. Morgan is 
a member of the Baptist church, She has 
been able to give all her children a good 
schooling, and is now happily surrounded by 
her many children and grandchildren. 



^NATHANIEL PENDLETON NOYES, 
l=| a respected and lifelong resident of 
J-^ V. . , Stonington and a son of Captain 
Franklin and Susan (Pendleton) Noyes, was 
born here, March 12, 1846. One of his early 
ancestors was William Noyes, who, born in 
Choulderton, England, was made rector of 
Wiltshire, England. In 1602 William mar- 
ried Anna Parker, of Choulderton, and they 
had two children: James, born in 1608; and 
Nicholas, born in 1616. James, who was ed- 
ucated for the ministry at Brasenose College, 
Oxford, came to America in 1634, on the ship 
"Mary and John." He preached in Medford, 
Mass., that year. In 1635 he accepted a call 
to Newbury, Mass., where he labored until 
his death, which occurred October 22, 1656. 
He married Sarah Brown, of Southampton, in 
1634, just before leaving England. They had 



nine children, six sons and three daughters. 
Their second child, James, born in 1639, 
graduated at Harvard College, and was or- 
dained pastor of the church in Stonington on 
the day before his marriage. He was one of 
the founders of Yale College. He married 
Dorothy Stanton, September 11, 1674; and 
they had five sons and two daughters. He 
died in Stonington, December 30, 1719, aged 
nearly eighty years. The pier slab that for 
more than a century has been over his grave 
in the old Wequetequock burying-ground in 
Stonington, has the following inscription: 
"In expectation of a joyful resurrection to 
eternal life, here lyeth interred ye body of the 
Rev. Mr. James Noyes, aged eighty years, 
who after a faithful serving of the Church of 
Christ in this place for more than fifty-five 
years, deceased Dec. ye 30, 1719-20. Maj- 
esty, meekness and humility here meet in 
one, with greatest charity." One of his sons, 
Captain Thomas, born August 14, 1679, on 
September 3, 1705, married Elizabeth San- 
ford, a daughter of Governor Sanford and a 
grand-daughter of Governor William Codding- 
ton, of Rhode Island. They had five sons and 
seven daughters. Their son, Thomas, born 
January 26, 1 7 10, married Mary Thompson, 
of Westerly, R.I., March 1, 1731. His son 
Thomas, born in 1739, married on January 24, 
1760, and died at the age of ninety-two, in 
the old house which formerly stood near the 
residence of the subject of this sketch. His 
wife, Mary E. Cobb Noyes, a daughter of 
Henry Cobb, of Stonington, born February 
15, 1740, died in March, 1833, aged ninety- 
four. They spent seventy years together in 
the old house that was burned in 1855. They 
h.nl eight sons and two daughters. 

Nathaniel Xoyes, the third child of Thomas 
and Mary E. Noyes and the grandfather of the 
subject of this sketch, was born in Stonington 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEW 



*59 



in 1771, and died there in 1854. On Febru- 
ary II, 1800, he married Mary Saunders, of 
Stonington, who died in 1852. They had two 
suns and six daughters, all of whom were mar- 
ried. Their son Franklin, who was a seafar- 
ing man and the master and a part owner of 
several vessels, died April 15, [892. He 
married June 14, 1829, Susan B. Pendleton, a 
daughter of Paul and Sahra Pendleton, of 
Westerly, R.I., and who died February 29, 
1880. They had eight children — Charles 
F. 1'., Tin unas [., Benjamin 1*"., William I'., 
Susan Sabrina, Paul Pendleton, Mary A., and 
Nathaniel P. Benjamin was lost at sea in 
November, 1859. 

Nathaniel P. Noyes attended the common 
schools in Stonington. After attaining the 
age of eighteen years, he served as Assistant 
Postmaster to Franklin Williams for fifteen 
months. Subsequently he completed a course 
at the Eastman Business College, Poughkeep- 
sie, N.Y., graduating therefrom in the class 
of 1865. On his return home he was made 
Assistant Postmaster to Enoch B. Pendleton, 
"I Westerly. R.I., a position which he held 
fur three years. For the next five years he 
was employed in the United States railway 
mail service, on the night train between Bos- 
ton and New York. After this his health 
broke down, and obliged him to spend three 
winters in the South. In 1875, having re- 
gained his health, he again entered the 
Westerly office as Assistant Postmaster to 
Eugene B. Pendleton; but after seven years' 
service he was again obliged to go South on 
account of failing health. He came back to 
Stonington again, however, and in 1885 en- 
tered the Stonington office as Assistant Post- 
master, and served three and a half years 
under Postmasters fames Pendleton and Elias 
15. Hinckley. Appointed Postmaster on De- 
cember 2$, 1890, by President Harrison, he- 



held the office from February 1, 1891, to M; 
1, 1895. He was doorkeeper (if the House 
of Representatives during the session of (897. 
In politics Mr. Noyes is a stanch Republi- 
can. On October 30, 1869, he married 
Fannie S. Hall, a daughter of Thomas and 
Phoebe C. Hall, of Westerly. They have had 
two children: Minnie Pauline, a young girl 
of considerable musical and artistic ability; 
ami Harry Pendleton, a bright boy of fifteen. 
Mr. and Mrs. \<>\es ami their daughter are 
members of the First Baptist Church of Ston- 
i US' ton. 



"^ATHAN DENISON NOYES, a re- 
tired gentleman of Mystic, was born 

- \^ _ in Stonington, Conn., January 20, 
1S32, son of Nathan Stanton and Nancy 
(Denison) Noyes. The family tin.' their 
lineage in England to a period prior to 1600. 
The Rev. William Noyes, the rector of the 
diocese of Salisbury in 1602, resigned in 
favor of his brother Nathan in 1620, and be- 
came attorney-general to James I. He mar- 
ried Miss Parker; and their sons, James 
and Nicholas, came to .America in the ship 
"Mary and John," settling in Newburyport, 
Mass. The Rev. James Noyes, alter he had 
seceded from the Church of England and gone 
to Holland, returned to Southampton, where 
he married Sarah Brown in 1634, previous to 
his emigration. His son. the Rev. James 
Noyes (second), born March 11, 1640, was 
graduated from Harvard College in 1659, and 
ordained in 1674. This ancestor was the pas- 
tor of the Road Church — which was estab- 
lished over two hundred and fifty years ago — 
for fifty-five and a half years, and died at the 
age of eighty. Dr. Paeon, of New Haven, 
said of him, "He was one "I the leading di- 
vines of the country, and was greatly respected 
for his unswerving piety in those perilous and 



260 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



trying times, being distinguished not only for 
his fervor and heavenly zeal in his public min- 
istry, but for his ordinary conversation, which 
breathed the spirit of that world to which he 
endeavored to guide his fellow-man." He was 
also eminently useful in theological controver- 
sies. During King Philip's War he served as 
physician and surgeon. The General Court 
gave him an equal share with the volunteers 
of the Narragansett Bay Company, said grant 
comprising the present town of Voluntown. 
Although then old and in a remote corner of 
the colony, his influence was deemed necessary 
to the success of the project of establishing 
Yale College; and he was one of the founders 
and one of the trustees of that institution. 
He died December 30, 1719. 

The Rev. Joseph Noyes, son of the preced- 
ing James Noyes, became pastor of the First 
Congregational Church in New Haven, Conn., 
and one of the first professors of Yale College. 
He married Abigail Pierrepont, who was a 
sister of the wife of the first Jonathan Ed- 
wards. Deacon John, another son, married 
Mary Gallup; and they had four sons and 
three daughters. The sons were: William, 
John, Joseph, and James. Joseph wedded 
Prudence Denison in 1763. Their son, Jo- 
seph Noyes (second), the paternal grandfather 
of the subject of this sketch, contracted his 
first marriage on November 30, 1790, with 
Zerviah Wheeler, who had seven sons and 
one daughter, and reared five sons and the 
daughter. Nathan Stanton Noyes, the only 
survivor, is an aged resident of Stonington, 
Conn., where he was born January 7, 1804. 
He is still bright and active mentally. He 
married Nancy Denison, a daughter of Ethan 
and Eliza (Williams) Denison. By Joseph 
Noyes's second marriage, which was made 
with Eunice Cheesebrough on January 11, 
1 8 14, there were five sons and four daughters. 



Nathan Denison Noyes, after acquiring his 
school education, was engaged as clerk in a 
dry-goods store in Providence, R.I., and later 
in the store of John Hyde at Upper Mystic. 
In October, 1853, he went to St. Louis, 
where he was clerk for a large wholesale dry- 
goods jobbing house. Three years later, in 
December, he became a member of the firm 
Claflin, Allen & Co., in the wholesale boot 
and shoe business, of which firm Governor 
Claflin, of Massachusetts, was the head. He 
retired from this connection in 1862 to be- 
come a partner in the firm of Appleton, Noyes 
& Co., who carried on the same business, and 
was the buyer in the Boston and other markets 
during that firm's existence. 

On August 4, 1857, in Mystic, Mr. Noyes 
was united in marriage with Adelia Miner 
Randall, a native of Hartford, Conn. In 
1873 they removed from St. Louis to Newton, 
Mass., where they resided sixteen years, 
going from thence to Newton Highlands. 
From the latter place in 1S94 they came to 
Mystic, taking possession of their present ele- 
gant residence on West Mystic Avenue. Mr. 
Noyes's chief occupation since has been the 
raising and breeding of poultry, which he dis- 
poses of by wholesale. 

Mrs. Noyes's paternal great-grandfather, 
Jonathan Randall, married Ann Crary, of 
Groton, Conn. They were intellectual and 
well-to-do. He was a tanner and fuller, own- 
ing a tannery and fulling-mill in Norwich 
during the Revolutionary War. His daugh- 
ters married into the beSt families. His son 
Jedediah, the grandfather of Mrs. Noyes, used 
to say: "I have four sisters. One married a 
Vanbuskirk, one a King, another a Lord, and 
another a Cooper. " Colonel Ebenezer Avery 
(second) was Mrs. Noyes's maternal great- 
grandfather. He served in the Revolutionary 
War, and was killed at Fort Griswold. Her 




CHARLES BISHOP. 



IIIOCRAI'IIICAI. Kl \ [EW 



263 



maternal grandparents were Dr. John Owen 
and Elizabeth (Awry) Miller, the latter born 
October 28, [768. Her parents were Isaac 
and Adclia (Miner) Randall. Mrs. Noyes's 
mother was the youngest of nine children, all 
of whom were remarkable instances of lon- 
gevity. The eldest daughter died at the age 
of ninety-six, and the youngest at the age ol 
eighty-four. Mrs. Noyes is the eldest daugh- 
ter of eight children, of whom two sons died 
in early infancy. The other survivors are: 
John !•'. and Charles Arthur. John F. Ran- 
dall is in business in St. Louis. Charles \. 
is in Prescott, Ariz., mining for gold and 
silver. Jedediah, the eldest, was Captain of 
ipany K, Twenty-sixth Connecticut Regi- 
ment, in 1862. He died in the Baton Rouge 
Hospital, June 9. 1863, in the twenty -eighth 
year of his age, having been mortally wounded 
at Port Hudson. The father, who was born 
in Milltown, Conn., in 1808. was married in 
1831. He died March 9, 1 88 1. The mother, 
who was born September 6, 1809, died Au- 
gust 19, 1893, at Newton Highlands. Mass. 
Mrs. Noyes is the happy possessor of many 
ancient and interesting family relics, some of 
which are nearly two hundred years cdd. 




jIIARLFS BISHOP, a retired business 
man of New London, was born in 
Montville, Conn., June 20, 1813. 
Sun of Charles and Charlotte (Lattimer) 
Bishop, he comes of English origin. His 
first American ancestor, Nicholas Bishop, was 
kidnapped from the Isle of Wight when a boy, 
brought to this country, and sold to a man 
named Hart for the price of his pass 
When Nicholas reached manhood, he married 
Hart's daughter. They had a son, Nicholas, 
who married Hannah Douglas on February 14, 



174U. This Nicholas had five sons and four 
daughters. His fourth child and third son, 
Joseph, born August 14. 1758, who was a 
fanner in Montville. married Desire Gilbert in 
1781. Of Joseph's four sons and five daugh- 
ters the first child was a girl, and two sons 
and three daughters grew up. 

Charles Bishop, the lather of the subject ol 
this sketch, was born in Montville, April 20, 
1784. In bis early manhood he was a farmer 
and a school teacher; but afterward he went 
into the grocery business, setting up a store 
in New London, near the centre of the town. 
He died in this town at the age of eighty-two. 
His wife, Charlotte, a daughter of Henry and 
Sarah (Christophers) Lattimer, whom he mar- 
ried in September, 1809, had seven sons ami 
one daughter, all of whom reached old age. 
They were: John and David, who each died at 
eighty-two; Charles, the subject of this 
sketch; Joseph, who died when past middle 
age; Charlotte, the widow of Ezra S. Beck- 
with; Henry, who died in 1891; Gilbert, a 
retired lumberman of New London; and Hlias, 
tin superintendent of the cemetery. 

Charles Bishop received bis education in 
the district schools and in Chesterfield. 
When he was sixteen years old, he obtained 
employment in a store as a clerk, and stayed 
there four years. Then he went to Fisher's 
Island for a short time. When In' was twenty 
he began to learn the carpenter's trade, serv- 
ing two years with his elder brother John. 
He and John started in the lumber and build- 
in:; business in [838. In 1892 be retired. 

Mr. Bishop built his large and handsome 
house, [6 Franklin Street, in [866. Besides 
this lie owns twenty tenements and a cottage 
at Listein Point. In politics he is a Demo- 
crat. He was Selectman, Councilman, and 
.Assessor lor a number of years. He has also 
served on the Hoard of Relief. Although 



264 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



trained in the Baptist church, he has been an 
earnest member of the Universalis congrega- 
tion for years; and he helped that society very 
much in building their last church edifice. 
The first of his two marriages was contracted 
with Cynthia Davidson, of Preston, in 1838. 
Of their eight children, three died in child- 
hood. The others were: Charlotte, the wife 
of the Hon. Thomas M. Waller; Dr. H. M. 
Bishop, now in Los Angeles, Cal.; Charles 
A., a lumberman in New London; Adam F., 
a dentist in New London; and George, now 
dead, who was a dentist in California, and left 
a widow and three sons in Los Angeles. 
Airs. Cynthia Davidson Bishop died in 1892; 
and in 1893, Mr. Bishop married Mrs. Cor- 
delia Sanford Young, a widow, of Danielson, 
Conn. 



/SJeORGE MAYNARD MINOR, the 
\J5 1 well-known medical practitioner of 
Waterford, is a native of Stamford, 
Conn. He was bum in 1863, and is the son 
of Robert C. and Isabel (Smith) Minor. Dr. 
Minor's paternal ancestor a few generations 
back, Captain John Minor, son of Thomas, of 
New London and Stonington, was one of the 
first settlers of Woodbury, going to that place 
from New London, and dying there, as re- 
corded in the History of Woodbury, Sep 
tember 17, 1 7 1 9. He was Town Clerk of 
Woodbury for thirty years, and "for twenty 
years almost always a member of the General 
Court." Israel Minor, Dr. Minor's grand- 
father, was horn at Woodbury, and died in 
B klyn, N.Y.; in 1893. His wife was be- 
fore marriage Charlotte Crandall, of New Lon- 
don. She is still living in Brooklyn, at the 
age of ninety, in good mental and physical 
condition. Of her four sons two are now liv- 
ing: John Crandall Minor, M.D., a physician 



of New York City ; and Robert, father of Dr. 
George Minor. 

Robert C. Minor is the well-known artist 
of New York City, where he has spent the 
greater part of his life. He studied art at 
Antwerp, and in Holland with Diaz; and 
while in France he was the personal friend 
of Corot. He has been twice abroad, spend- 
ing in all eight years. In the Faris Exposi- 
tion of 1890 he received a medal from the 
French Salon, an honor much coveted by 
every artist of whatever nation. He is a 
member of the National Academy of Design, 
and was one of the organizers of the Salma- 
gundi Society. His studio is in Sherwood 
Studios. Mr. Robert C. Minor married Isa- 
bel Smith, daughter of Orrin F. and Emma 
A. (Loomis) Smith, of New London. He 
has one daughter living: Louise, sister of Dr. 
Minor, and now the wife of Hermon F. Tie- 
man, son of ex-Mayor Tieman. 

George M. Minor was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of Brooklyn and in Plainfield 
Academy. He then pursued a course of medi- 
cal studies in the Long Island College Hospi- 
tal, and graduated with the degree of Doctor 
of Medicine in 1885. He began the practice 
of his profession as ambulance surgeon of St. 
Peter's Hospital, where he remained for two 
years. He then accepted the position of sur- 
geon on the steamship "Illinois," and in 1888 
came to Waterford. Here he met and mar- 
ried on November 19, 1895, Miss Anne B. 
Rogers, daughter of James Chapman Rogers, 
a well-known sea captain of New London, and 
his wife, Nancy Hazeltine Beckwith, the 
father born in New London, and the mother 
in East Lyme, in the house where Mrs. Minor 
was born. Mrs. Rogers's father was a well- 
known ship-builder. She was married in 
1849. Her husband died in 1866, leaving 
her with five children to care for. All are 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



265 



now living, and areas follows: Irene, wife oi 
William X. Coates, of this place; Julius, a 
resident of Tarrytown, N. Y. ; Alida, wife of 
James D. Hanan; of Brooklyn, N. Y., son 
of James L). Hanan, of the well-known firm "t 
Hanan & Son; Frank E., of Tarrytown; and 
Mrs. Minor. 

Seven or eight years ago Mis. Minor built 
and opened Konomac Inn, which is now one of 
the must popular summer hotels on the Sound. 
Beginning on a small scale and with but lew 
guests, the business has increased so that now 
from lift)- to sixty guests are entertained. 
The success of this enterprise is due to the 
careful attention to the comfort of all persons 
in the house, and to the most excellent ar- 
rangements of the inn, and its unrivalled table 
service. Abundant amusement is offered, in- 
cluding golf, yachting, and tennis, no pains 
being spared to make the place a delightful 
resort. That this fact is appreciated by the 
its is evidenced by the growing patronage 
the inn receives and the many words of praise 
that are heard every summer. Mrs. Minor is 
a member of the society of Daughters of the 
American Revolution. Dr. Minor is a Mas- 
ter Mason, and exceedingly popular in the 
order. lie is an independent voter, is the 
Health Officer of this town, and Medical Ex- 
aminer for the coroner. 




[ZRAJUDSON HEMPSTEAD, a promi- 
nent farmer of W'aterford, Conn., son 
of Orlando Ilallem anil Julia Ann 
(Rogers) Hempstead, was bom at W'aterford, 
June 3, 1851. He is a direct descendant in 
the male line of Robert Hempstead, who 
came to this country from England, and was 
one of the fust settlers of New London in 
1645. ()n the maternal side Mr. Hempstead 
traces his lineage to James Rogers, supposed 



t" be the immigrant of that name (without the 
j) who came over in the '* Increase" in II 
James Rogers lived for some years at Mil- 
ford, Conn., and between 1656 and 1660 set- 
tled in the New London plantation. He 
carried on an extensive business as a baker, 
and became the owner of a large estate near 
New London, which has, however, to-day 
dwindled to the twenty-acre farm of Mrs. 
Hempstead. Some of the Rogers family were 
Quakers, and a part of the town settled by 
them has thus been known as Quaker Hill. 

Mr. Ezra J. Hempstead's great-grand- 
father Hempstead bore the name of Robert. 
His grandfather, George W. Hempstead, was 
a farmer in Stonington and a shoemaker in 
New London. Alfred ami Orlando Hemp- 
stead, sons of George, went to New London 
when young men, and together established 
there a blacksmith shop on the Neck, where 
they carried on a successful business in gen- 
eral blacksmithing ami the ironing of vessels. 

Orlando Hallem Hempstead, son of George 
W. and father of Ezra Judson, was born in 
North Stonington, Marcli 23, 1809, and died 
at his farm in North Waterford, April 19, 
1874. He was married January 1, 1832, to 
Julia Ann Rogers, daughter of Jonathan and 
Sarah Rogers, who were cousins. The farm- 
house where Mrs. Hempstead now lives was 
built by him over fifty years ago. They had 
one daughter and seven sous who reached ma- 
turity, and two sons who died in infancy. 
Loin- oi these children are now living: Eliza- 
beth, wife nl Stephen C. Comstock; George 
\\\, of Main Street, New London; Andrew 
Jackson, .1 bachelor, at home on the old farm; 
and Ezra Judson Hempstead, tin- seventh son, 
the subject of this sketch. Francis Alexan- 
der died at twenty-seven years of age. Mrs. 
Julia A. Hempstead is the oldest living mem- 
ber of the Second Congregational Church at 



-66 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



New London, with which she united herself in 
i S 3 6. During the later years of his life her 
husband was a Republican, but was formerly 
a Democrat. He served in many of the town 
offices. 

Ezra Judson Hempstead was educated in the 
New London schools, including the old Bart- 
lett High School, the Connecticut State Nor- 
mal School, and Scofield's Business College 
at Providence, R.I. In early manhood he 
taught school for some seven years at Water- 
ford and other towns. Mr. Hempstead is 
Master of New London County Pomona 
Grange and State Deputy of the State 
Grange. He also belongs to the A. O. U. W. 
He is a Republican, and has served on the 
Board of Education for twenty years, at least 
part of that time being its chairman. He is 
much interested in the Ouaker Hill Church, 
where in case of an emergency he fills the 
pulpit. He is a member of the Second Con- 
gregational Church at New London. 

December 25, 1877, Ezra Judson Hempstead 
married Mary M. Smith, of PIrie, Pa., daugh- 
ter of Newman and Mary Harris Smith. 
They have two children : Ezra Judson Hemp- 
stead, Jr., now eighteen years old, who, hav- 
ing graduated from the Bulkeley High School 
of New London and spent one year at Mr. 
Moody's world- famous school at Northfield, 
is now living with his parents upon their 
farm ; and Agnes Burchard, born December 
16, 1887. 

Ezra Judson Hempstead has a place of about 
two hundred acres, known as the Browning 
Beach Farm. It is delightfully situated on 
the Thames River, and has long been a favor- 
ite resurt for the people of that neighborhood. 
The house, standing well back from the high- 
way, is interesting on account of its age, hav- 
ing weathered about one hundred years. The 
views from the farm, both of the surrounding 



charming country and of the river, harbor, and 
far-off, shining waters of the Sound, are pict- 
uresque and beautiful. 




REDERICK DENISON CHESEBRO, 
one of Stonington's most venerable and 
honored citizens, a descendant of Will- 
iam Chesebro, was born here October 20, 
1S05, when the place was known as Stoning- 
ton Point. His parents were Elder Elihu and 
Lydia (Chesebro) Chesebro. 

The History of the First Congregational 
Church, Stonington, contains an interesting 
account of the life of his pioneer ancestor, 
from which the following is condensed : Will- 
iam Chesebrough, the first white man who 
made a permanent settlement in what is now 
Stonington, was bom in Boston, Lincolnshire, 
England, in 1594, and there married Anna 
Stevenson, December 6, 1620. He came to 
this country with Winthrop's fleet in 1630, 
settled in Boston, Mass., and soon became a 
member of the First Church. He was made 
a freeman of the Colony in 1631; and in 
1632 he was one of two men chosen for Bos- 
ton in compliance with the order that there 
should be "two of every plantation to confer 
with the Court about raising a public stock." 
"And this," says Prince, in his New England 
Chronology, referring to the measure, "seems 
to pave the way for a House of Representa- 
tives in the General Courts." After residing 
in Boston several years, serving as Constable 
and being otherwise active in public affairs, 
he removed to Braintree, Mass., and while- 
there was Deputy to the General Court. 
Later he lived for a time at Rehoboth, where 
in 1643 his list was returned at four hundred 
and fifty pounds; and in 1(144 he was one of the 
planters there who signed a compact by which 
they agreed to be governed by nine persons, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



267 



"according to law and equity," until they 
should .subject themselves jointly to some other 
government. Owing to an affray with an Ind- 
ian he was in disfavor; and in ICJ45 ne visited 
the colon) <>t John Winthrop, Jr., at Pequot, 
now New London, Conn., and finally, in (649, 
he and his family settled at Wequetequoc, now 
Stonington. He was a gunsmith, and worked 
at his trade until he came here, when he be- 
came a farmer and stock-raiser, owning large 
tracts of land. He trailed with the Indians, 
and was accused of selling them weapons of 
warfare, which brought him before the au- 
thorities; hut he was an active man in busi- 
ness and public affairs, and diew ,1 goodly 
number of settlers about him, making a place 
of some importance for that period. He was 
a man of more than ordinary ability and fence; 
and dining the time that his settlement, We- 
quetequoc, was in the jurisdiction (if .Massa- 
chusetts, 1658-62, he was one of those ap- 
pointed tn manage the prudential affairs of the 
town. lie was elected Deputy to the General 
Court at Hartford in 1653, 1654, 1655, and 
[656. 

Elder Elihu Chesebro was born here March 

1761;. He was an unsalaried ISaptist 
preacher here fur seventeen years; and in cold 

her he often sawed the wood for heating 
the school-house in which the services were 
held, displaying commendable earnestness and 
sincerity. March 20, 1791, he married Lydia, 
daughter of Zebulon Chesebro. She died in 
18. ii, at seventy years of age; and he after- 
ward married Mary Fish, whom he outlived 
about six years, his death occurring on April 

1868, at the age "t ninety-nine years, one 
month, and three days. Rev. Elihu and 
Lydia Chesebro were the parents of ten chil- 
dren — Elihu, Denison, Lydia, Gilbert, Pru- 
dence, Ethan Allen, Frederick 1)., Lydia, 
Amelia, and Mary Ann. Elihu, born Janu- 



ary 3, 1792, married and had ten children, 
five sons and five daughters. Denison, born 
January 16, 1794, married, and had two 
and a daughter. Lydia, bom March 28, 
1796, died, aged nine years. Gilbert, who 
was born September 21, 1798, and died in 
[851, aged fifty-two years, was twice married, 
and had seven children, one by his first wile 
and six by his second. Prudence, born Octo 
her 5, 1800, became the wife of Samuel Lang 
worthy, and had two sons Samuel C. and 
Henry Allen Langworthy. Ethan Allen, who 
was born December 25, 1803, and died at sea 
in [832, aged twenty-nine years, had two 
daughters, one of whom is living; namely, 
Mrs. W. J. II. Pollard. Lydia, bom August 
1, 1807, married Joseph S. Knight, and died 
in 1S92. .Amelia, who was born Julv 17. 
[809, married Thomas J. Wheeler, and had 
one son, Thomas A. She died in 1856, aged 
forty-five Mars. Mary Ann was born Septem- 
ber 29, 1 Si I, and now lives in Norwich, 
Conn., being in her eighty-seventh year. 

Frederick Denison Chesebro received a 
district-school education, attending school 
until he was sixteen years old, during the last 
few years in the winter only. He remained 
at home until he was married. His years of 
active labor were spent in farming; and he 
still owns the old Chesebro homestead, which 
has been in the family for nearly two hun- 
dred and fifty years. During all this time 
there have been but two dwellings on the 
place, the present house replacing the original 
structure in 181 8. 

On October 25, 1837, Mr. Chesebro mar- 
ried Mary A. Chesebro, daughter of Klias 
Chesebro, a distant relative. Five children 
were bom to them, as follows: Frederick 
D. J., on April 7, 1839; Klias, December 23, 
1840; George W., November 28, 1842; Will 
iam H., November 26, 1845; and Jabez, May 



268 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ii, 1847. The last-named is the only sur- 
vivor; and with him Mr. Chesebro has lived 
since the death of his wife, which occurred on 
February 2, 1884, at the age of seventy- 
three years, less one day. 

Jabez Chesebro is an operator in the velvet- 
mill, which was erected here in Stonington in 
1S92, and in which he is a stockholder. The 
business has now grown so that they are 
doubling the capacity of the plant. On March 
12, 1873, he married Etta Irons, of Mystic, 
daughter of the late Resolved Irons, a ship- 
builder. They lost their first child, William 
\Y. , who died July 11, 1893, when he was 
between eighteen and nineteen years of age, 
and was learning the drug business with Dr. 
Brayton. They have one daughter living — 
Grace E., a young lady at home, and attend- 
ing the high school. Mr. Jabez Chesebro is 
a member of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, and belongs to the Grand Lodge of 
the State. He and his wife and daughter 
are members of the Baptist church. They 
live in the house that he built in 1887 at 66 
Elm Street. 

Frederick Denison Chesebro has been a firm 
Democrat all his life. He has served in some 
of the minor town offices, and for twelve years 
was Superintendent of the Highway. For 
about seventy-seven years he has been a mem- 
ber of the Baptist church, and he is now 
senior Deacon. 



• -• • — • 



D 



AVID ERSKINE WHITON, a 
manufacturer of lathe and drill 
chucks and machinist's tools in New 
London, is a native of Stafford, Conn., born 
October 15, 1825. His ancestor, James 
Whiton, who was one of the founders of 
Hingham, Mass., came to this country from 
either England or Scotland about the year 



1630, and was made a freeman in 1636. Jo- 
seph Whiton, his grandfather, resided in 
Westford, was a carpenter and builder, and 
had charge of the erection of the Westford 
Orthodox Church edifice. Joseph married 
Miss Joanna Chaffee, of that town; and their 
union was blessed by the birth of several sons 
and daughters. Both were members of the 
Orthodox church. Their son, Heber Whiton, 
born in Westford about 1780, died in Stafford 
about 1827. A cooper by trade, he carried 
on that business in conjunction with his 
farm, and acquired a fair property. About 
1806 or 1807 he married Miss Marcia Gay, of 
Stafford. After his death she remarried and 
moved to Monson, Mass., where she died 
when about sixty-three years of age. Eight 
children were born of her union with Mr. 
Whiton, of whom six sons and one daughter 
reached maturity. The daughter, Hannah, is 
the widow of Penuel Eddy, and resides in 
Stafford. 

David Erskine Whiton, the youngest son of 
his parents, attended the common schools of 
Stafford. When about fourteen years of age 
he began to learn the carpenter's trade with 
his brother Lucius, and continued his school 
attendance in the winter terms until eighteen 
years old, working with him six years. At 
twenty, having spent six years in his brother's 
employment, he started for himself as a jour- 
neyman carpenter. Subsequently he was en- 
gaged in the millwright business for four 
years, and still later he worked at pattern- 
making. Until he took up the machinist's 
business, he did not feel that he had found 
the occupation for which his natural ability 
fitted him. Before this, however, in 1849, 
travelling by water he visited Buffalo, Chi- 
cago, and Milwaukee, crossed Michigan by 
rail, and then on horseback went to many f 
places in Illinois and Wisconsin. He made 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEVV 






a considerable stay in Beloit, which reminded 
him of the East, and reached as far north as 
Green Bay, stopping at Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, 
and Appleton, where the first improvements 
on Fox River were being made. He worked 
at carpentry in different places, but the East 
was still his preference. Returning in 1852 
to Stafford, he built his first machine shop, 
for which he made the water-wheel and much 
ol the other equipment. After renting it 
Mime years, he occupied it for the manufact- 
ure of machine tools, lathe chucks, etc., which 
he continued there until [886, building up a 
good business, and employing about twenty 
men. He then sold out and came to New 
London, where he shortly after erected a shop 
on Howard Street. Since 1896 he has con- 
ducted the business in the present large brick 
structure. In [886 an incorporated company 
was formed, with Mr. Whiton as the presi- 
dent and his son as the secretary and treas- 
urer. About one hundred hands are employed 
in the establishment. 

On November 13, 1856, Mr. Whiton was 
united in marriage with Miss Asenath 
Francis, of Stafford, a daughter of James and 
Achsah (Howe) Francis. Her father died 
when seventy-seven years of age, and her 
mother about two years later, at seventy- 
three. A sou and lour daughters survive. 
Mr. and Mrs. Whiton were bereft of their 
first-born, a daughter of four years. They 
have a son and daughter living — Lucius 
Erskine and Mary W. Lucius Erskine 
Whiton, who is in company with his father, 
married Viola King, and has two daughters- 
Helen King and Dorothy. His infant son, 
I 'avid Erskine (named for his lather), 
died October 5, 1896. Mary W. is the wife 
ol Leander Shipman, M.D., of New London. 
While a resident of Stafford, Mr. Whiton, 
Sr., who is a stanch Republican, served in 




many of the town offices, and was twice a 
member of the State legislature, winning a 
hotly contested election. He and Mrs. 
Whiton are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. 

JT\RS. MARY E. ALLEN, of Han 
over village, in the town ol 
Sprague, New London County, 
Conn., is a native of Canterbury, Windham 
County, being a daughter of Hubbard and 
Sabrina (Adams) Adams. 

Colonel Ethan Allen, late a well-known 
woollen manufacturer of Hanover, to whom 
she was married on December g, 1855, was 
bom in Lisbon, this county, in [822, and 
died on January 15, 1884, at the age ol sixty- 
two years. He was the son of Deacon Eben- 
ezer .Allen, a native of Canterbury, Conn., 
and was of the eighth generation in descent 
from Samuel Allen, who came from England 
ab.out 1630, and settled at Braintree, Mass. 
Deacon Ebenezer was a son of Pratt Allen, a 
native of Scotland, Conn. 

To Colonel Ethan and Mrs. Mary E. Allen 
were born eight children, named as follows: 
Ebenezer, Mary, Sarah, Thomas II., Morgan, 
Harriet 15., Olive B., and Maud E. Sarah 
died April 6, 1874, at fourteen years of age. 
Morgan died at the age of four years. The 
living children are all residing in this p] n e, 
and are single, except Ebenezer, who married 
Martha F. Gordon, of Hanover. They have 
been liberally educated, and are citizens of 
influence and prominence. Ebenezer and 
Thomas are graduates of the Highland Mili- 
tary Institute. The business of manufactur- 
ing woollen goods, in which Colonel Allen 
was engaged at the time of his death, has been 
continued by his sons and their uncle, Fli- 
sha M. Allen, who was Colonel Allen's part 
ner. During the business depression of the 



270 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



past four years the factory has been closed for 
a considerable part of the time. Mr. Eben- 
ezer Allen is the present Representative of 
this town to the Connecticut legislature. 

His brother, the Hon. Thomas Hubbard 
Allen, who was bom September 3, 1862, has 
had a brilliant record as a public man. He 
was educated at East Greenwich Academy, 
Rhode Island, and at Highland Military In- 
stitute, graduating from the last-named institu- 
tion in 18S1, as valedictorian of the class, and 
having been Captain of the Cadet Corps. He 
has always been interested in military affairs, 
and for eight years was a memher of the Third 
Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, retir- 
ing as Captain and Inspector of Rifle Practice. 
He served his native town five consecutive 
years as Selectman; and in 1885 he was 
elected to the legislature, being at the time 
he took his seat the youngest man in the 
house. He has been five terms in the lower 
branch, and one term in the Senate. During 
his first term in the house he was clerk of the 
Committee on Engrossed Pills, and during 
the four successive terms he was chairman of 
the Committee on Military Affairs. In 1886 
he was also clerk of the Library Committee, 
and in [893 was a member of the Committee 
on Joint Rules. The other years in which he 
served were 1889 and 1895. In 1S87 he was 
elected State Senator, and was the youngest 
man in the upper house. Here also he served 
as chairman of the Committee on Military 
Affairs. 

.Mr. Thomas II. Allen has had many other 
civic honors conferred upon him. At the 
time of President Harrison's second inaugura- 
tion he was one of the aides-de-camp. In 
18SS he was sent as delegate to the Republi- 
can convention at Chicago, and in 1896 as 
delegate to the St. Louis convention. In 
1889 he was a delegate to the centennial cele- | 



bration held in New York City. Mr. Allen's 
record as a public man has been one of dis- 
tinguished service and high integrity. lie 
has worked faithfully for the interests of his 
constituents, and has allowed no personal con- 
siderations to deter him from carrying out 
what he has believed to be for the general 
good of his district or of the State as a 
whole. He is a member of Hartford Lodge, 
No. 19, Brotherhood of Elks; also of Court 
Sprague, No. 90, Foresters of America, of 
Sprague, Conn. 




{*/V/ILLARD J. WAY, a member of the 
Board of Selectmen of Bozrah, was 
born in Salem, Conn., February 18, 
1859, son of David ami Sally R. (Gardner) 
Way. The father was a native of Salem, in 
which town the paternal grandfather, Joshua 
Way, was an early settler. The Gardners are 
native residents of Montville, Conn. David 
Way was a prominent citizen of Salem in his 
day. He was a Justice of the Peace for many 
years, held several town offices, and was a 
Deacon in the Baptist church. His last days 
were spent at the home of his son Willard in 
Bozrah, his death occurring in 1893. His 
wife, Sally, became the mother of several chil- 
dren, of whom Willard J. is the only 
survivor. 

Willard J. Way was educated in the com- 
mon schools of Salem. His boyhood ami 
youth were passed in his native town; and he 
started in business life as the proprietor of a 
livery stable at Fitchville, Conn. In 1884 he 
settled upon his present farm in Bozrah, a val- 
uable piece of agricultural property, which he 
is cultivating with prosperous results. He 
also owns a tract of land in Salem. 

On December 2, 18S5, Mr. Way was united 
in marriage with Cora B. Ross, daughter of 




WILLARD J. WAY. 



BIOGRAPHICAL KKVIEW 



2 73 



Enos C. Ross, late ;i respected citizen of 

: ah. 
Mr. W.iy is a Democrat politically. He 
served the town foi one term as Assessor, was 

ted a member of the Board of Selectmen 
in October, [896, and has represented Bozrah 
in the legislature. His public record is one 

delity to his constituents and sound judg- 
ment in the exercise (it his legislative duties, 
which qualities have been recognized and ap- 

iated by the general community. .Mrs. 
Way is a member of the Baptist Church of 
Leffingwell, Conn. 



EV. EDMUND DARROW was I... in 




in Waterford, February 7, 1X07, 
y M of Joseph and I Iannah 

hop) Darrow. His grandfather, the Rev. 
Zadoc Darrow, bum in New London, Decem- 
ber J5. [728 (O. S.), son id Ebenezer Dar- 
row, was fur hall a century pastor of Jordan 
tist Church. Ebenezer Harrow's wife was 
a Rogers, a direct descendant, it is said, of 

Smithfield martyr. Zadoc Harrow early 
left the Congregational church, and. uniting 
with the Niantic church under the Rev. 
Mr. Howard, was chosen Deacon. He was 
lined in [769, and from 1775 to 1827, a 
period of fifty-two years, was pastor of the 
First Baptist Church. Waterford. lie lived 

!'• venerable age of ninety-nine. I lis suc- 
cessor in the pastorate was his grandson, 

r Francis Darrow; and the two pastorates 
covered ninety years. 

In 1830, at tlv age of twenty-three, Edmund 
Darrow united with the First Baptist Church, 
Waterford, of which his cousin, Elder Francis 
Darrow, was pastor. He served as Deacon of 
the church and as superintendent of the Sun- 
day-school several years, but in 1X45 he 
united with the Seventh Day Baptist church, 
lie often made allusion to the remarkable co- 



incidence that his birth occurred in the 
seventh year of the century, on the seventh 
il.iv oi the month, and the seventh day of the 
week, and that he became a Seventh Day Bap- 
tist. The following year he was made a 
Deacon; and in 1853 he was ordained to the 
ministry, and accepted as a non-salaried posi- 
tion the pastoral care of the church of which 
he had charge until his death, thirty-five years 
later. For some years also he was engaged in 
teaching. He was a thrifty farmer, employ- 
ing help, keeping his homestead property, 
with its large barns and the house that he 
built about fifty years ago, in good condi- 
tion. The farm contains about eights-five 
acres, a part of which was handed down from 
his father and grandfather. Mr. Darrow's 
ability as a man of affairs was recognized by 
his townsmen, who elected him to various 
offices, including that of Selectman. In pol- 
itics lie was a Republican, and he served in 
the State legislature. He passed away at his 
home in Waterford, October f>, [888, aged 
eighty-one years. 

Mr. Darrow was with his people at the last 
communion before his death, also the follow- 
ing Sabbath, although very feeble, coming as 
lu- said, "to set them to work." He spoke 
briefly from Dan. ii. 35: "The stone that 
smote the image became a great mountain, 
and filled the whole earth." One who knew 
him well and was a coworker with him has 
written of him: "Amid all his cares and 
labors he regarded no sacrifice too great, if 
thereby he might benefit others. . . . Not 
anxious for a great name, but modest and un- 
assuming, he was a man of simple habits and 
Scriptural faith. He was a practical and 
earnest friend of the temperam e, having 

signed the first pledge formed in the town 
when a boy. No one stood higher in the esti- 
mation of the people for Christian character, 



2 74 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



as the large audience that gathered at his 
funeral from many miles around attested. As 
a friend he was hospitable, social, and true; 
as a pastor, genial and hopeful, having kind 
words for all." 

On March 4, 1831, Mr. Darrow married 
Grace Rogers, by whom he had three chil- 
dren: Edmund, who was born in March, 1833; 
Josephine, who died November 5, 1841, at 
the age of three years; and Francis Newton 
Darrow, who was born October 10, 1842, is 
now a farmer in Waterford, and lias one son, 
Earl W. Darrow, a teacher and preacher of 
promise. The mother of these children died 
nineteen years later, April 26, 1850. On 
March 3, 185 1, Mr. Darrow was united in 
marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth Potter 
Darrow, by whom also he had three children, 
namely: Mary E., wife of Adrian Almy, of 
Altamont, Ky. ; George P., a prominent mer- 
chant in Germantown, Pa.; and Courtland R., 
a civil engineer in Waterbury, Conn. Mary 
E. and George P. are graduates of Alfred Uni- 
versity, Courtland R., of Norwich Academy 
and of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology, Boston. Their mother died Novem- 
ber 15, 1872. December 25, 1877, Mr. Dar- 
row married for his third wife Miss Ellen R. 
Walden, who survives him. She was born in 
Waterford, Conn., a daughter of the Rev. 
Hiram and Rebecca (Bird) Walden. In her 
girlhood she attended the common school, also 
studied- at home under her father's direction, 
and later for a time she was a student at 
Greenwich Academy. At the age of eighteen 
rs she taught her first school, and during 
the next twenty-five years until marriage was 
successfully engaged in teaching. Mrs. Dar- 
row is a widely known and highly respected 
resident of Waterford. 

Her father, a Methodist minister, one of 
the old-time circuit riders of the Massachu- 



setts itinerancy, was born in Montville, 
Conn., and spent his last days there. His 
marriage to Rebecca Bird took place in 
Stoughton, Mass., in January, 1827. She 
was a daughter of Abner Bird, and grand- 
daughter of a Revolutionary patriot who died 
while fighting for American independence. 
The Rev. Hiram and Mrs. Walden had eleven 
children, of whom three died in infancy, five 
sons and three daughters attaining maturity. 
Six are living, namely: Elvira, wife of Travis 
Douglass, of Waterford; Mary P., wife of 
George L. Rogers, a Montville farmer; Ellen 
R., widow of the Rev. Edmund Darrow; 
William B. , a merchant in Uncasville, Conn. ; 
Charles H., superintendent at the New Lon- 
don almshouse; and John Wesley, a resident 
of New London. Their brother, Edwin H. 
Darrow, a physician, died in Washington, 
Kan., aged forty-nine; and Warren N., a Bap- 
tist minister, died in New Jersey in 1893, 
aged forty-nine. 



/TVXPTAIN JOSEPH J. FULLER is 
I Vy a well-known mariner, who after 

V»^__^ years of adventure on the sea, hunt- 
ing the whale and the seal, is living at ease 
in New London, Conn. He was born in 
Danvers, Mass., October 13, 1840, son of Jo- 
seph J. and Mary Ann (Glass) PTiller. The 
Fuller family is an ancient one in England, 
and one branch of it is said to have a coat of 
arms Jhat denotes service in the holy wars, 
being a dove, three bars, and a crescent. 
Two brothers, Samuel and Edward Fuller, the 
former a physician, came to this country in 
the "Mayflower" in 1620. Others of this 
name came later, among them Thomas, who 
arrived in 1638. He married first in 1643 
Elizabeth Tidd, of Woburn, Mass., by whom 
he had nine children. A number of years 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



'75 



i marriage, about 1665 it is thought, he 

removed to Salem, buying land, and establish- 
ing his home in what is now Middle ton, 
Mass. 

Timothy Fuller, Captain Fuller's grand- 
father, was bom in Hudson, N.H., and reared 
in Darners, Mass. He followed the sea in 
carl) - manhood, and after retiring was engaged 
in farming in Danvers. He was fairly well- 
to-do. He died when about sixty-live years 
oi age, and is buried in Middleton, Mass. 
Timothy Fuller was twiee married. His first 
wife, who was the mother of Captain Fuller's 
father, was Lucy Field. She bore him four 
sons and four daughters, and one daughter is 
now living in California. I lis second wife 
was Lucy Putnam, said to have been a niece 
rand-niece of Israel Putnam, whose old 
home is still standing in Danvers. 

Joseph J. Fuller, Sr., father of Captain 
Fuller, was born in Hudson, N.H., about 
1812. He followed the sea for eighteen 
years, and when he retired was first mate. 
When between thirty and forty years of .age 
he settled on the farm in Danvers which has 
1 in the family considerably over two 
hundred years, and is now owned by his son, 
Captain Fuller. There he died in [878, ■ 
sixty-five years: and he is buried in the old 
town where so many of his kindred rest. 
When he was following the sea in his early 
manhood, he was taken sick at one time, and 
put ashore on the island of Tristan d'Acunha, 
in the South Atlantic, then under the juris- 
diction of Governor Glass, a Scotchman. The 
young American sailor became acquainted 
with the Governor's daughter, and won her 
his bride, the marriage taking place on 
the island in [832. Ten children were born 
o! this union. Six sons and three daughters 
attained maturity, and all but three — Maria, 
John, and Benjamin — are living to-day. 



Benjamin Fuller volunteered at the time of 
the Civil War, though hardly more than a 
boy. He was wounded and taken prisoner at 
Bermuda Hundred, and, alter a term oi suf- 
fering and neglect in Libby Prison, died and 
was buried in an unmarked grave. His death 
occurred in 1863, when he was twenty years 
old. Mrs. Fuller, the mother, a most estima- 
ble woman, died an 01 rian in October, 
1897. 

The boyhood of Captain Joseph J. Fuller 
was passed on the Danvers farm. His educa- 
tion was limited to a few months' schooling 
in the year, and he began to work out at the 
early age of twelve. In July. 1N50. in his 
nineteenth year, he shipped before the mast 
from New London on the schooner "Frank- 
lin," owned by Williams, Havens & Co., in 
charge of Captain Church, and after three 
years of sailing found himself forty-five dol- 
lars in arrears. The war was at this time 
fairly inaugurated, and his next berth was on 
the gunboat "Genesee" from Boston. He 
shipped as a seaman for thirteen dollars a 
month, and was in the employ of the govern- 
ment thirty months. From Boston he went 
to the James River, and he w.is subsequently 
engaged in the blockade of Wilmington, 
N.C., and later on was in Farragut's squadron 
on the Mississippi until Port Hudson and 
Vicksburg fell. His vessel was afterward en- 
gaged in the Mobile blockade. At the end of 
his term of service he engaged as boat steerer 
for the old firm, his first employers, on the 
schooner "Roswell King." His fortunes 
Wi re linked with this vessel, of which he be- 
came master in 1870 for some time. 

After taking charge as captain, he made 
four voyages to the South Indian Ocean in 
pursuit of "sea elephants." and was quite suc- 
cessful as a whaler. In 1880 he became 1 
tain and part owner of the large, two-masted 



276 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



schooner "Pilot's Bride," of which the agents 
and principal owners were C. A. Williams & 
Co., of New London. With this vessel he 
sailed the same waters, and near the Ker- 
guelen Isles he took twelve hundred barrels of 
whale oil and seventeen hundred fur seals. 
The seal skins he shipped from Cape Town, 
Africa, to London, England; and the oil he 
disposed of in New London, Conn. On his 
next visit to these islands he was cast away 
(October 2, 1882). He had a crew of twenty- 
two men, and they saved only their lives and 
the clothing which they were wearing at the 
time. They spent eleven months in that out- 
of-the-way corner of the globe before they 
were found and taken away by the rescue party 
sent by the owners of the wrecked vessel. 
This was the only serious mishap in the Cap- 
tain's career as a sailor. After that he made 
three successful voyages from New Bedford to 
the South Seas. In 1884 he purchased some 
land, and erected the pretty dwelling at 12 
Freemont Street, New London, where he has 
since resided. 

In 1870, when he was first invested with 
the authority of captain, he chose a mate for 
life's voyage, marrying Miss Jane M. Adams, 
daughter of James Adams, of Isleton, London, 
England. She was born in England in 1S55, 
but was residing in New London when she 
met the Captain. Four children have been 
given to Captain Fuller and his wife, namely: 
Jennie, a talented musician, living with her 
parents; Joseph A., a young man who has 
not yet chosen his life work; Gertrude M., 
sixteen years of age; and Bertram R., twelve 
years old, both attending school. In political 
matters the Captain is independent. He is a 
Master Mason of twenty-six years' standing, 
and he belongs to the Grand Army of the Re- 
public. Mrs. Fuller and the children belong 
to the Episcopal church. 




ON. ROBERT COIT, president of 

the New London & Northern Rail- 
road, is a member of an old Con- 
necticut family which has figured extensively 
in the records of Yale College, and has been 
prominent in business and in public affairs. 
He was born in New London, April 26, 1830, 
son of Robert, Sr., and Charlotte (Coit) Coit. 
On the paternal side his ancestry includes, it 
is said, William Brewster, of the "Mayflower" 
company, who was Elder of the church at 
Plymouth, and has sometimes been called 
"chief of the Pilgrims." Mr. Coit is lineally 
descended from John Coit, one of the early 
English inhabitants of Gloucester, Mass., who 
settled in New London in 1650, and was the 
first ship-builder in this place. Mr. Coit's 
grandfather, Joshua Coit, son of Joseph Coit, 
a substantial citizen, was born in New Lon- 
don in 1762. He was graduated at Harvard, 
became a brilliant lawyer of New London, 
and was serving his third term in Congress, 
when his life was cut short by yellow fever. 
He was then but thirty-six years of age. His 
wife, Ann Borrodell Hallan, of this city, 
lived to be an octogenarian, and reared seven 
or eight children. 

Robert Coit, Sr., son of Joshua and Ann 
Coit, was born in New London in 1785. He 
was a successful merchant and financier, presi- 
dent of the New London Savings Bank, 
and president also of the Union Bank, the 
oldest institution of the kind in Connecticut 
and one of the oldest in the LTnited States. 
He died in October, 1S74, aged eighty-eight 
years and eleven months, having been active 
to the last. He was married in 1820 to Char- 
lotte Coit, a distant relative, who was a de- 
scendant of Lyon Gardner, of Gardner's 
Island, otherwise known as the Isle of 
Wight. This Lyon Gardner bore the title of 
Lord of the Isle of Wight. Mrs. Charlotte 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



277 



Coit died in 1X74, aged seventy-six. She 
was the mother of seven children, who all 
grew to maturity, and of whom four are liv- 
ing, namely: Fanny, widow of Dr. A. L. 
Chapin, late president of Beloit College, 
Wisconsin; Robert, the subject of this 
sketch; the Rev. Joshua Coit, of Winchester, 
Miss., who was graduated at Yale in the 
class of 1 s 5 3 ; and Ellen, widow of the late 
Rev. Dr. Thomas P. Field, of Amherst, where 
she resides. 

Robert Coit, the younger, was graduated at 
Vale in the class of 1850, and was admitted to 
the bar of New London County in 1853. He 
distinguished himself in his profession, and 
was Probate Judge for a number of years and 
Registrar of Bankruptcy during the continu- 
ance of that office. Endowed with keen in- 
telligence, marked executive ability, and con- 
itive judgment in financial affairs, he has 
long held the confidence of the public, faith- 
fully discharging the duties of a number of 
important offices. In 1867 he was elected 
treasurer of the New London & Northern 
Railroad, and since 1881 he has filled the 
president's chair. He is also president of the 
In ion Bank, having been elected to that 
office in 1894. An esteemed member of the 
Republican party, he served with dignity and 
ability as Mayor of New London from 1879 to 
|8.X_\ IK- was a member of the Connecticut 
House ot Representatives in 1879, and was in 
the State Senate the following four years, in 
• and 1883 acting as president pro tern, of 
that body. 

Mr. Coit was married August 1, 1855, to 
Lucretia, daughter of William F. and Sarah 
(Prentiss) Brainard, all of this city. Mr. 
Brainard, who was a Yale graduate, was one 
of the leading lawyers of Connecticut. He 
died in middle life. His wife lived to be 
over fourscore. Two of their children besides 



Mrs. Coit are living — Sarah Prentiss and 
Mary Gardner Brainard — both unmarried, re- 
siding in New London. Two children have 
blessedthe union of Mr. and Mrs. Coit: Mary 
G., who lived but three years; and William 
Brainard Coit. The son was graduated in the 
class of 1884 from Yale, and is now City 
Attorney of New London. He is married. 
Mr. Robert Coit is a member of the Second 
Congregational Church. He resides in a 
handsome three-story brick dwelling, 38 Fed- 
eral Street, which he erected in 1855, the 
year ot his marriage. 




ICTOR O. FREEMAN, superintend- 
ent of the Totokett Mills, New Lon- 
don County, Connecticut, was born 
in Buffalo, N.Y., on September 12, 1841. 
His parents, Charles A. and Anna A. (Holt) 
Freeman, reared four children; but he is the 
only one now living. His father was a native 
of Norfolk, Va. 

Mr. Freeman is a veteran of the Civil War, 
having served as a Union soldier during two 
periods of enlistments. In April, 1861, di- 
rectly after the fall of Fort Sumter, he en- 
listed from Lawrence. Mass., as a private in 
Company I, under Captain John Pickering, 
Sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer 
Militia, which was the first to march for the 
defence of Washington in response to the 
President's call for troops on the 15th of 
April. On the morning of the [8th the regi- 
ment, commanded by Colonel Edward F. 
Jones, passed through New York City, and on 
tin- following day reached Baltimore, where 
the detachment that brought up the rear, led 
by Captain Follansbee, were obliged to fight 
their way through a violent mob. Three sol- 
diers were killed, including one member of 
Company I, Sumner 11. Needham.of Lawrence. 



278 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Mr. Freeman served three months in the 
Sixth, and subsequently re-enlisted as a pri- 
vate in the First Massachusetts Cavalry, Com- 
pany B. He was later made Sergeant, and 
was with the regiment in all its engagements, 
excepting when he was in the hospital. He 
was first wounded at Aldie, where his com- 
pany went into active service with fifty-two 
men and came out with only thirteen. 
Among the slain was his only brother, John 
B. Freeman, a brave and dashing young man 
twenty-one years old, who was killed in a rash 
attempt to save himself from being taken by 
the Confederates, choosing death rather than 
the lingering honors of a Southern prison. 
He was buried in Aldie under the regimental 
monument. At Brandy Station Mr. Victor 
Freeman received a sabre wound in the thigh; 
and at Black Water, Va., he received a severe 
gunshot wound in his right thigh. He was 
discharged at Readville, Mass., in July, 1865, 
and shortly after went to work in the Naum- 
keag Mill at Salem, Mass., beginning at the 
lowest round of the ladder as a card stripper. 
He worked subsequently at New Market, 
N.H. ; Great Falls, N.H. ; at Indian Orchard, 
Me., where he started Mill No. 7; and at 
Arkwright, R.I. , where he had charge of the 
carding-room. He came from Arkwright to 
Occum about twenty -seven years ago as super- 
intendent of the carding-room, and within a 
short time of his arrival was placed in charge 
of the mill, succeeding Lyman Frisbie, who 
was then travelling for his health, and who 
subsequently died in California. In politics 
Mr. Freeman is a Republican. He is a mem- 
ber of Sedgwick Tost, No. 1, G. A. R. 

In October, 1866, Mr. Freeman was united 

in marriage with Mary Hines, of Readville, 

Mass. Of the ten children that have been 

to them, three died in infancy, and seven 

living, namely: Lyman W. ; Charles E. ; 



Albert R.; John B. and his twin sister, 
Hilda J. ; Mary E., eight years of age; and 
Annie P., six years of age. These were all 
born in Occum, Conn. Lyman \V. , the eld- 
est, is paymaster and in charge of the cloth 
department of the mill. The pay-roll em- 
braces one hundred and fifty-six employees, 
men, women, and children. Charles E. Free- 
man has recently had charge of the mechanical 
department of the mill; and on the retirement 
of his father, on July 1, 1896, he assumed the 
superintendency. 




/ ILLIAM H. MANSFIELD, farmer 
and merchant of Preston, one of the 
central towns of New London 
County, was born in Saxon land, Germany, 
January 29, 1847, son of Andrew and Man- 
Mansfield. His father died in Germany in 
1851, when about forty-three years of age, 
leaving a widow and five children. Mary, the 
eldest-born, sailed from Bremen in 1S53, ar- 
riving in New York after a voyage of five 
weeks. Two years later her sister Louisa fol- 
lowed her to America; and both settled in 
Norwich, Conn. They were able to send 
money home to their mother, who was in 
humble circumstances; and she joined them in 
1857, accompanied by her two younger chil- 
dren: Henry, who was fifteen; and William 
H., then but ten years of age. Christian, 
an older son, joined them in Norwich in 1861. 
Mrs. Mansfield died in 1891, in the seventy- 
ninth year of her age. But three of the chil- 
dren are now living, namely: Louisa, who 
married Henry Hasler, of Ledyard; Henry, a 
resident of Preston; and William H., the sub- 
ject of this sketch. 

William H. Mansfield began life in Nor- 
wich by working out on the neighboring 
farms, thus earning his clothes and schooling 




V 




WILLIAM H. MANSFIELD. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 



and small sums of money besides. Winn 
twenty years of age he made a five months' 
voyage to Hudson's Bay on a whaling 
schooner, under Captain Budding, of New 
London. II is second voyage was on the 
schooner "Georgiana" from New London to 
North Carolina, and thence to the West India 
Islands and Australia. He followed the sea 
I'M five years as sailor and mate, hut at the 
end of that time returned to Preston to enter 
the Lucas woollen-mill. 

( >n December to, 1871, Mr. Mansfield mar- 
ried Susan Hush, of Poquetannock, a daughter 
of Peter hush. With his wife he worked on 
the Nash farm for about seventeen months, 
afterward returning to the mill, where they 
were employed for two years. He subse- 
quently spent several years in different lines 
of work, until in 1879 he opened a store in 
Poquetannock, and two years later was able to 
purchase his fine property of fourteen acres, 
for which he paid thirty-eight hundred dol- 
lars. Here he opened a store, and has since 
done a small but profitable business. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mansfield lost one son when 
seventeen months old. They have one son 
living and one daughter: George, a young- 
man of about twenty-one years, who is at 
ent clerk in his father's store; and Phebe, 
a young lady residing at home. Mr. Mans- 
field is a member of the I. O. O. F., of the 
Knights of Pythias, and of the German So- 
ciety, Sons of Hermann, of which he is an 
r. In political ranks he stands as an in- 
cident voter. 



lAFTAIX ELIAS F. WILCOX, a 
prominent citizen of Stonington, 

Conn., was born within a few rods 
oi ins present home, October 6, 1 850, son of 
111 i is and Hannah (Dennison) Wilcox. The 




- 



paternal great-grandfather was Hezekiah Wil- 
cox, who lived at Watch Hill, where his son 
Jesse was born in 175.;. This son, by tra< 
ship carpenter and builder, made and sailed 
many different packets, carrying freight and 
passengers to New York. Soon after the 
breaking out of the Revolution he moved to 
Stonington. He and his eldest son, Jesse, 
while out in a small sail boat in 1827, were 
caught in a squall, and drowned. Their 
bodies were recovered and buried in Stoning;- 
ton. Jesse Wilcox was twice married. By 
his first wife, to whom he was united just 
before leaving Watch Hill, and whose maiden 
name was Nancy Pendleton, he had six chil- 
dren. He married for his second wile Me- 
hitable Wilcox, daughter of Ebenezer Wilcox, 
of Stonington. Mrs. Wilcox was a remark- 
able woman, of superb constitution and well 
endowed both physically and mentally. She 
came of a long-lived family, some of whom 
reached the age of one hundred years, and u- 
tained her powers to a remarkable degree until 
her death, which occurred in [868, at the 
of ninety-nine years, six months, and twenty- 
three days. She bore her husband seven 
children — Iantba, Ebenezer, Elisha, Mason 
B., Elnathan M., Silas, and Llias. 

Elias Wilcox was born April v. 1S15. He 
engaged in the fish business, establishing a 
factory for the manufacture ol fish, oil, and 
fertilizer on the shore of Fisher's Island 
Sound about 1.X66, which factory was burned 
in 188.:. In 1843 he married Hannah, a 
daughter of Henry and Lucy (Smith) Denni- 
son, of Groton, and one of ten children, all 
(■! whom are living at the present time except 
the eldest, who died in 1894, at the age 
of eighty. Mr. and Mrs. Llias Wilcox have 
had ten children, eight of whom grew to ma- 
turity. The parents celebrated their golden 
ling in 1893. 



28; 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Elias F. Wilcox, the direct subject of this 
sketch, received his education in the district 
school. At the age of eighteen he began 
fishing in company with his father and other 
members of the family, who were engaged in 
menhaden fishing. This business, of which 
he is now a half-owner, is run under the 
company name of "The Wilcox Fertilizer 
Works." The business of this company has 
largely increased, and the high reputation of 
Wilcox fertilizers is widely known throughout 
New England. 

January 15, 1S73, Mr. Wilcox married 
Sarah J. Davis, daughter of Elias and Julia A. 
(Wilcox) Davis, of Stonington. They have 
had two children, both of whom have gone 
before to the heavenly mansions: Annie L., 
a bright and interesting little girl, who died 
at the age of ten years; and Willie F., who 
died when he was sixteen, having been an in- 
valid for several years. Captain Wilcox is a 
Republican in politics. He is a Master Mason 
and a member of the A. O. U. W. He built 
bis present home, on the bank of the Sound, 
in 1874. He and his wife are members of the 
Baptist church, in which he is a Deacon; and 
both are highly respected in Stonington and 
the vicinity. 




[LLIAM STORRS LEE, a prom- 
inent farmer of Sprague, son of 
William and Sarah (Storrs) Lee, 
was bom December 15, 1S27, at the old 
homestead near Hanover, where he now lives, 
and where bis grandfather, the Rev. Andrew 
Lee, D. D., who was born in Lyme, in the 
southern part of the county, in 1745, ami was 
pastor of the Congregational church at Han- 
over more than sixty years, settled upward of 
one hundred and twenty years ago, building 
the farm-house here in 1770. 



A detailed account of the Lee family, 
founded by Lieutenant Thomas Lee, who set- 
tled at Saybrook, Conn., in 1641, and later 
lived at Lyme, is given in volume three 
of Family Histories and Genealogies, by 
E. E. and E. M. Salisbury. Lieutenant 
Thomas was the only son of Thomas, first, 
who died on the passage to America, with his 
wife and three children. "The Lee family," 
we are told, "of which he was the progenitor, 
has always held a respectable position, and 
many times has been prominent under its own 
name, and in its female lines has carried its 
traits into many families of distinction." 

From Lieutenant Thomas 2 the line we are 
now considering descended through his son 
John 3 by his first wife, Sarah Kirtland; 
John, 4 son of John 3 ; and Andrew, 5 above 
named, son of John' and Abigail (Tully) 
Lee. The Rev. Dr. Andrew Lee was gradu- 
ated at Yale College in 1766, ami later in life 
was a fellow of the corporation. He was the 
author of an octavo volume of sermons and 
of other writings. As a theologian he was 
known as "moderately Calvinistic." He is 
spoken of as a good classical scholar and a 
very industrious and useful man. He was 
chaplain of the Fourth Regiment, Colonel 
John Durkee's, Connecticut line, January 1 to 
October 15, 1777. Dr. Lee retired from his 
pastorate a few years before his death, which 
occurred in 1S32. Of his large family of 
children by his wife, Eunice Hall, William, 
father of Mr. William S. Lee, was the youngest. 

William Lee was born on the Lee home- 
stead in 1785, and spent his whole life here, 
engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was 
for forty-one years a Deacon of the church of 
which his father had so long been the pastor. 
He was an earnest Christian man and active 
in temperance and anti-slavery reforms. He 
was three times married, his first wife being 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



283 



Nancy Bingham, whom he married in 1S12. 
She bore him six children; namely, Eliza, 
Eunice Hall, Nancy, Andrew. Talitha, and 

Lucy. Eliza, the eldest, now Mrs. Crary, a 
widow, resides in Norwich; Eunice Hall is 
the widow ol Levi P. Rowland, and lives in 
Springfield, Mass.; Nancy, wife of Nathan 
Bishop, died at about the age of seventy years, 
leaving a family; Andrew, who was born in 
[820, died in Northfield, Minn., in May. 
[897; Talitha, now Mrs. Cushman, a widow, 
lives in California; and Lucy has been twice 
married, and is now Mrs. Knowlton, of 
Minnesota. Mrs. Nancy Bingham Lee died 
January 4, 1S25, at thirty-seven years of age: 
and William Lee subsequently married Sarah 
Storrs, who became the mother of the subject 
of this sketch and of his brother, Samuel 
Henry Lee, president of the French American 
College at Springfield, Mass., a graduate ol 
Vale in the class of 1 858, and an ordained 
clergyman of the Congregational church. By 
his third wife, Thankful Aver, whom Deacon 
Lee married May 27, 1840, he had no chil- 
dren. He died March 24, 1871 ; and she sur- 
vived him nine years. 

William Storrs Lee obtained a fair educa- 
tion in the common schools, and at the age ol 
seventeen began to learn the tinsmith's trade 
at Plainfield, Conn. He worked there for 
seven years, and subsequently in Springfield, 
Mass., tor seven years. After his marriage 
he set! led on the old Lee estate in Spraguc, 
which comprises some one hundred and sixty 
S of valuable land. Here he carries on 
eral fanning and gardening. He has a 
tine peach orchard of several hundred trees. 
In politics Mr. Lee is .1 Republican, but his 
sympathy is with the Prohibitionists. He 
and his wife are members of the Congrega- 
tional chinch. 

Mr. Lee married on April 4, i860, Frances 



Anna Calkins, daughter ol Elisha and Abby 
(Chapman) Calkins, of blast Lyme. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lee have one son, William Storrs Lee, 
Jr., who is a graduate of Storrs Agricultural 
College, and is now living at the old home- 
stead. He married on March 28, [894, 
Hettie Chapman, of Sprague, daughter of 
Fuller Chapman. Abbie S. Lee, late a music 
teacher of New York City, the only daughter 
of Mr. and Mrs. Lee, died 011 May I, 1896. 
She was a graduate of Norwich Free Academy 
and of the New Britain Normal School. For 
nine years previous to her death she had b< en 
a highly successful and deeply loved teacher 
in New York at the Workingman's School, 
under the Society for Ethical Culture, and 
also in the People's Singing Classes and the 
People's Choral Union from their inception. 
Her success in all respects as a teacher at- 
tracted marked attention among those capable 
of judging her work. The director of the 
singing classes said of her, "She was faithful 
to every task at any cost." and "she had but 
one idea, to do everything she attempted just 
as well as she could do it." 



01'ORACE O. BURCH, of the firm 
■^| H. O. Burch & Co., who are general 
.s 3 v, „ contractors lor sidewalks and build- 
ing movers in New London, was bom here, 
September 20, 1851, son of Isaac (). and 
Mary Ann (Moore) Burch. The paternal 
grandfather. Isaac, who was also a native of 
this county, married Nancy Pettigrew. They 
reared seven children, of whom four are liv- 
ing, namely: Henry, a resident of this city: 
Nancy Tinker, ol East Lyme; and Hannah 
Noyes and Harriet Watrous, who reside in 
Waterford. Grandfather Burch died on his 
farm in i860, and his wife in 1S72, at thi 
of seventy-five years. 



284 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Isaac O. Burch, born in Norwich in 1822, 
was engaged as building mover in New Lon- 
don for over forty years, having begun with an 
ox team in 1846. In 1843 he married Mary 
Ann Moore. Of their six children they 
reared : Francis Thomas, a farmer of East 
Lyme; Mary, the wife of John A. Morgan; 
Horace O., the subject of this sketch; Annie, 
who married Albert E. Harris, of this city; 
and Walter G. Burch, who also resides in 
New London. The mother died here in 1879, 
at the age of sixty years, and the father in 
1889, aged sixty-four years. The mother's 
ancestors settled in East Lyme at an early 
day. Her grandfather, Edward Moore, reared 
ten children, of whom Jairus, an aged resi- 
dent of Deep River, is still living and active. 
Her parents, Edward and Mary (Gee) Moore, 
had six children, of whom George W., Lydia 
M., and Adeline are now living in New 
London. 

Horace O. Burch acquired a common-school 
education. At the age of fifteen years he be- 
came a clerk in the grocery store of the late 
William H. H. Comstock, remaining five 
years. Then, after spending two years in the 
business for himself, he entered the employ- 
ment of his father in 1874. In 1884 his 
father received him into partnership. At his 
father's death he succeeded to the business 
and considerable property. The land on 
which the barns, sheds, and factory are lo- 
cated comprises f6ur acres on Truman and 
Grand Streets. Messrs. Burch & Co. make 
asphaltum for sidewalks and artificial stone 
and coping. Mr. Burch has greatly improved 
the stone or ornamental brick, the manufact- 
ure of which he and his father began. The 
old farm, twenty acres, at Great Neck, on 
which is a large dwelling, is also owned by 
Mr. Burch. 

In politics Mr. Burch is an independent 



voter, and he has served for three years in 
the Common Council. He is a member of 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the 
United Order of the Golden Cross, and the 
American Mechanics' Association. On Oc- 
tober 2, 1872, he was united in marriage to 
Nellie E. Melzard, of Boston, Mass. Mrs. 
Burch's parents, Thomas and Ellen (Peterson) 
Melzard, have both passed away. She has 
three brothers and one sister, who are settled 
in Boston, Mass., and Exeter, N.H. Her 
children were: Emma E., now the wife of 
Hervey E. Rogers; Ernest W., an electrician 
in New York; Daisy E., who graduated from 
the Williams Memorial High School in 1896, 
and died in October, 1897; Edward, who is 
engaged with the Warren Chemical Manufact- 
uring Company, New York; and Mary Moore 
Burch, a healthy young miss of thirteen 
years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Burch are highly 
respected members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 




TILES CRANDALL, an esteemed 
resident of Ledyard, living in re- 
tirement on his farm, which is situ- 
ated about a mile north of Old Mystic, was 
born November 25, 181 3, in the town of Gro- 
ton, Conn., son of Wells and Sally (Wood- 
bridge) Crandall. Jonathan Crandall, father 
of Wells, was a Rhode Island farmer, and 
lived to be about seventy-five years of age. 
Wells Crandall was born in Rhode Island in 
1769. While still a young man, after learn- 
ing the trade of a tanner, he came to Old 
Mystic, and was there employed at his trade 
by Paul Woodbridge. He followed the busi- 
ness throughout his life, but never on a suffi- 
cient scale to bring in large returns; and at 
his death he left but a small property. He 
died at the age of sixty, and his widow, who 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIFAV 



285 



was a daughter of Paul Woodbridge, at the 
age "I seventy-five. They lie side by side, in 
the old Woodbridge burial-place 

Early in life Stiles Crandall, the only son 
of the four children born to his parents, went 
to live with his uncle, James Woodbridge, a 
well-to-do farmer. He received a good com- 
mon-school education. When the latter and 
his wife died, Stiles became heir to the one- 
hundred - and - fifty-acre farm he now owns, 
which is half of the fine three-hundred-acre 
farm left by his uncle. 

Fifty -four years ago, on February 15, 
1S44, Mr. Crandall married Miss Caroline L. 
Greene, (laughter of Stephen and Sarah 
(Bowles) Greene, who live on a farm on 
Quaker Hill, Waterford. Mrs. Crandall, 
now seventy years of age, is the only survivor 
of the five children born to her parents. Her 
only sister, Eliza, who was the wile of Will- 
iam Thompson, of Montville, Conn., died in 
1894, aged seventy-five years. Her father 
lived to be eighty-three. Her mother died 
five years later, aged eighty-eight. They are 
buried in the Angel Burial-ground in Water- 
ford. Three children have been born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Crandall, namely: Augusta Caro- 
line, who died when eight years old; Ashbel 
Woodbridge, who lived thirteen months; and 
S. Ashbel Crandall, an ex-Mayor of Norwich 
and a successful attorney-at-law. 

Mr. Crandall is a stanch supporter of the 
principles of the Democratic party, and has 
faithfully served his town in a number of 
offices. He has been Assessor lor about eigh- 
teen years. Selectman for twe years, and he 
has served in the lower chamber of the Con- 
necticut legislature. Both he and Mrs. 
Crandall are esteemed members of the Baptist 
church. Fifty-two years ol their wedded life 
have been most happily spent in their present 
home. 




HRISTOPHER I.. AVERY, a resi- 
dent of Groton, Conn., the son ol 
Latham and Betsey Wood (Lester) 

Avery, was born in Groton, June 8, 1826. 
The Averys of England, we are told, trace 
their ancestry back to the Saxon kings. The 
immigrant progenitor of this branch of the 
family was Christopher Avery hum Cornwall, 
England, one of the colonists who came ovei 
with Governor Winthrop in [630. He settled 
first in Gloucester, Mass., but removed to Los- 
ton in 1658, and a few years later to New 
London, Conn. James, son of Christopher, 
born in England, was ten years ol age when 
he came to this country with his father. In 
1656 he built a house in Poquonnock, Conn., 
which had been in the family eight genera- 
tions when it was set 011 tire by the sparks 
from a passing locomotive, and binned to the 
ground. James had a son James, whose son 
Benjamin, a farmer of Groton, was the great- 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
Daniel, son of Benjamin, married Deborah, 
the daughter of Colonel L.bene/er Avery, a 
distant relation, and had six sons and two 
daughters. Daniel Avery was a soldier of 
the Revolution, and was killed at Fort Gris- 
wold in his forty-first year. His wile, Debo- 
rah, lived to be eighty-four years old. 

Latham, son of Daniel and Deborah, and 
the father of Christopher L. Avery, was bom 
in Groton in 1775. When quite a young man 
he went to Demerara, South America, where 
he engaged in ship-building and merchandis- 
ing. After living there some twenty years, 
he came back to his native town, and eng 
in farming. Lor a while be lived on a farm a 
little north of Groton. Then he sold out. and 
moved into the village, where he and his wile 
spent the rest of their lives. This farm is 
now in the possession ol one ol his grand- 
daughters. He married Betsey, the daughter 



2 S6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



of Christopher and Mary (Fish) Lester, of 
Groton, the ceremony taking place on the 7th 
of July, 1816, when he was forty and she eihg- 
teen. Their children were: Latham, who 
died unmarried at the age of forty; Betsey 
Ann, who became the wife of Edmund Fish, 
and died at sixty-nine, leaving three children; 
Emily, who married Silas H. Fish, and died 
at seventy-two, leaving two children; Mary 
Jane, who married A. M. Ramsdell, and died 
at sixty-three; Christopher, the subject of 
this sketch; Julia, the widow of Richard J. 
Sherman, of Buffalo, N.Y. ; and Deborah, 
who married the late I. P. Bouse, and died 
in 1895, aged sixty-five years. 

Christopher L. Avery was educated in the 
district schools and at the academy in New 
London. At the age of fifteen he went to 
New York, where he worked as a book-keeper 
in a counting-house on South Street about 
four years. He then went to China, where 
he stayed a year. Returning to America, he 
went to Buffalo, N.Y. , and engaged in the 
grain business until 1861, when he brought 
his family to Groton, Conn., and engaged in 
merchandising in New York City. He re- 
mained in this business until 1873; and in 
1876 he settled on his farm in Groton, where 
he has since lived. 

Mr. Avery is progressive in his ideas and 
methods, and his well-kept homestead prop- 
erty shows the signs of good management. 
The spacious house, which is a model of com- 
fort and convenience, is situated on rising 
ground, commanding a delightful and ex- 
tended view of hills and vales, with a part of 
the Sound and the Pequonriock River. In 
politics Mr. Avery is a Democrat, although 
independent enough to vote the Republican 
ticket when he considers that candidate to 
be the better man. 

He was married in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 



1850, to Sarah W. Smith, who bore four 
children, namely: Latham, a farmer; Mary 
Louise, the wife of P. L. Schellens, a mer- 
chant in Rio Janeiro; Ira Smith, who died at 
nineteen; and Betsey, the wife of Belton A. 
Copp, a bank cashier. Mrs. Sarah W. Avery 
died in 1869; and Mr. Avery married on No- 
vember 1, 1870, Ellen B. Copp, a daughter of 
Belton A. and Betsey Ann (Barber) Copp, of 
Groton, and the grand-daughter of Daniel and 
Sarah (Allyn) Copp, both descendants of old 
families. Her father's family is descended 
from the early Copps, of Boston, for whom 
Copp's Hill was named. Mr. and Mrs. Avery 
have two children: Christopher, a law student 
at Yale; and Mary Jane, a graduate of the 
Williams Memorial School, living at home. 




lAPTAIN DUDLEY A. BRAND, of 
New London, an experienced navi- 
gator, especially skilled in yacht- 
ing, was born in Westerly, R.I., January 12, 
1853, son of Captain Dudley and Catherine 
(Champlin-Burdick) Brand. His paternal 
grandfather married a Miss Green, who died 
when their only son, Dudley, born in Westerly 
in 1 80S, was a child. The boy was brought 
up by his maternal grandfather, and became a 
successful ship-master in the carrying trade 
between the West Indies and the Strait of 
Belle Isle. He commanded the brig " Buffalo," 
and was lost off Squirrel Island while attempt- 
ing to put ashore in a small boat. 

Captain Dudley Brand married first, in 
1836, Evelyn Bailey. She was drowned oil 
the coast of Long Island from the "Catherine 
I'. Hale" in 1847, her husband, the Captain, 
the mate, and one sailor being saved. He 
married second, March 30, 185 1, Catherine, 
daughter of John A. Champlin, and the 
widow of William Burdick, who was drowned 




DUDLEY A. BRAND. 



liloc.K.M'IIICAL REVIEW 






in the prime of life, leaving but one son. 
Mr. Champlin's wife, the mother of Catherine, 
was a Greene. Captain Dudley ami Mrs. 
Catherine Brand had three sons and one 
daughter, namely: Dudley A., the yacht com- 
mander, a further account of whom is given 
below; John H., who is in Montana; Lyman, 
a marine engineer in Boston; and Hattie, who 
died at the age of eighteen. The father's 
death occurred at the age of eighty-four years. 
He had been captain and part owner of differ- 
ent vessels. 

At the age of twelve years Dudley A. Brand 
was brought tu New London, where he re- 
ceived a common-school education; and at 
eighteen he went to sea, shipping as a sailor 
before the mast on the coasting schooner 
'"Daniel T. Willets," under Captain Stapelin. 
In 1S72 he made his last voyage as a seaman, 
and in his twenty-second year sailed as mate 
of the "" H. R. King," Captain Bliven. Since 
that time he has commanded many different 
vessels. In 1882 he took charge of the yacht 
"Alice," owned by Mr. Thomas (',. Appleton, 
brother-in-law of the poet Longfellow. He 
sailed this craft for four years, leaving her to 
take command of the steam yacht "Wanda," 
owned by Woodward & Stillman, of New York 
City. This position was held by Captain 
Brand for ten years. In 1894 ^5 the Captain 
took an extended trip in charge of the "Mar- 
garita," owned by A. J. Drexel, of Philadel- 
phia, sailing from New London on September 
22. reaching Southampton, England, in eleven 
days and five hours. During the year they 
toui lied at Gibraltar, Tangiers, Barcelona, 
Marseilles, Algiers, Toulon, Nice, Mentone, 
\ ' 1 to, Cividivitch, then went inland to 
Rome, thence to Naples, through the Strait 
oi Messina to Brindisi, thence to Corfu, 
through the Gulf of Corinth and Corinth 
Canal to Athens, from there to Alexandria, 



and inland to Cairo, from Port Said to Joppa, 
Jerusalem, and Beirut. Returning from 
Beirut, they went through the Adriatic Sei 
Venice, thence to Genoa and Marseilles, 
thence to Leith, Scotland; from there they 
went to the opening of Kiel Canal, and then 
they sailed to Copenhagen, to Stockholm, and 
St. Petersburg. They returned via Kiel 
Canal to Southampton, England, and, taking 
in eoal and stores at the Isle of Wight, made a 
sale voyage back to Philadelphia. Tin- boat 
has been renamed the "Narada" since it be- 
came the property of Mr. Hairy Walters, of 
Baltimore; and Captain Brand will again take 
her to Europe; starting about January I, 1 
going also to China and Japan. 

He was married on January 15, 1877, to 
Lottie E. Brown, of this county, daughter of 
Lyman and Mary Ann (Jones) Brown. Her 
father was one of the first Deacons of the 
First Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. The 
eldest-born of Captain and Mrs. Brand is 
Mary Catherine, eighteen years of age, now 
studying in the Williams Memorial, belonging 
to the class of 1898. Their second child was 
a boy, and died in infancy. The youngest is 
Harold Brand, now about eleven years old. 
Captain Brand is the owner of a handsome 
house on Ocean Avenue, which he purcha 
in 1876. As a Mason he is a member of 
Brainard Lodge, No. 102, F. & A. M. ; Union 
Chapter, R. A. M. ; Cushing Council, 
R. S. M. ; and Palestine Commandery, K. T. 
In politics he is Republican. 



OGER BURNUM CHAMPION, a 

merchant of Old Lyme, was born 
P V L j here. May 50, [866, son oi Calvin 

and Ann R. (SI 1 impion. The -rand- 

father, Frederick Champion, who was a farmer 
and spent the greater part oi his life here, was 




290 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



twice married. The maiden name of his sec- 
ond wife was Mahala Tinker. 

Calvin B. Champion, son of Frederick, born 
in this town about 1X23, was a farmer. In 
1S45 he married Ann R. Slate, a daughter of 
Lothrop Slate, of this town. Of their fifteen 
children, two died in infancy. The others 
were: Calvin B., Mary, Annie M., Edith M., 
Philena A., Wallace R., Christena, Imogene, 
Ida J., Roger B., Ansil A., Edward T., and 
Virgil \V. Calvin B. died at the age of 
twenty-three years; Mary, who was the wife 
of J. C. Lamb, died aged twenty-nine, leaving 
two sons: Annie M., who married Henry H. 
Lay, died aged twenty-four years; Edith M. 
Champion died aged sixteen years; Philena 
A. is the wife of G. W. DeWolf, of this vil- 
lage; Wallace R. is a merchant in Black 
Hall; Imogene is the wife of J. S. Hopper, 
of Ivoryton, Conn. ; Ida J. is the wife of 
H. M. Caulkins; and Ansil A., Edward T. , 
ami Virgil W. reside in this town. The 
lather died in 1876. The mother still re- 
sides here with her two youngest sons. 

Roger B. Champion received his education 
in the schools "t the town and at the academy. 
At the age of fourteen years he was employed 
as clerk by the firm of Morley & Champion, 
of which his brother, Wallace R., was a mem- 
ber. This position he left in 1889 to engage 
in the meat business, which he followed for 
several years. In 1891 he became a member 
of the firm of Champion & Caulkins, buying 
out his brother's interest. Since January, 
1896, he has carried on the business alone. 
In the Masonic order he holds the rank of 
Master. While a Republican in politics, he 
has never held public office. On May 12, 
1 89 1 , he married Annie M. Daniels, of East 
Lyme, daughter of Washington Daniels. 
They have two sons: Roger W., aged four 
years; and Harry V., aged two years. Mr. 



Champion's success in business is entirely 
due to his own industry and enterprise. 




SAHEL TANNER, an esteemed resi- 
dent of Preston, was born in Volun- 
town, May 19, 1823, son of Asahel 
and Susan M. (Tanner) Tanner. The grand- 
father, Isaac B. Tanner, a cousin of the cele- 
brated Wendell Phillips, was a native of 
South Kingston, R.I. He settled in Volun- 
town early in life, and there reared a large 
family. One of his great-grandchildren, John 
R. Tanner, is the present Governor of the 
State of Illinois. Isaac B. Tanner long sur- 
vived his wife. He went to Illinois in 1838 
to reside with a married daughter, and died 
there about the year 1840. His son Asahel 
married Susan M. Tanner in 1820, and by her 
became the father of the present Asahel 
Tanner and of Cynthia C. Tanner. The latter 
married Latham II. Babcock, of Providence, 
R.I , and died in Galveston, Tex., at the age 
of seventy-one, leaving a son and a daughter. 
The father was in the prime of life when he 
died, in 1836. After his death his widow, 
who was left without means, came to Nor- 
wich, where after many years spent as a faith- 
ful and efficient nurse she died in 1861. 

Asahel Tanner, the subject of this biog- 
raphy, was able to attend school only until 
the tenth year of his age. He lived upon his 
grandfather's farm until twelve years old, 
when he obtained employment in the rope 
factory at Norwich during the winter, spend- 
ing the summer months at work upon neigh- 
boring farms. At the age of eighteen he 
began to learn the tailor's trade. When 
twenty-one years of age his services were en- 
gaged by Mr. R. B. Morey. Three years 
later he was persuaded to join Mr. Morey in 
partnership, and invested his savings, amount- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



291 



ing to three hundred and fifty dollars, in the 
business. In a short time, having realized 
twenty thousand dollars, he was able to buy 
Mr. Morey's interest. Alter conducting the 
business alone for about three years, he re- 
tired. For the past forty years he has made 
a specialty of breeding fancy fowl, and for 
nearly half a century he has been the chair- 
man of the examining judges of the county. 

On October 12, [848, Mr. Tanner married 
Sarah M. Ward, of Lebanon. By her he has 
one child, Minnie M. Tanner, who is a gifted 
musician and a highly successful teacher of 
music. A stnmg advocate of temperance re- 
form for a long time, he has been a member 
and Chief of the Council of the Temple of 
Honor. lie was Captain of the Norwich 
Artillery Company of the Third Regiment 
tor seven years, during which time he pro- 
vided the company with .uniforms at his own 
expense. While his political principles are 
Democratic, he votes independently, lie rep- 
resented his district in the House in 1862. 
He has been the First Selectman for many 
years, and he has served on the Hoard of Re- 
lict, lie is a regulai attendant of the Baptist 
church. Since coming to Preston in 1X56, he 
his dealt largely in real estate. He bought a 
large lot oi land, which is now covered with 
dwelling-houses. At the present time he is 
owner oi five houses and two stores, in- 
cluding the fine brick house on Main Street, 
built by him thirty years ago, and in which 
he now resides. 



(TfoSHCA I-:. BROCKWAY, a prosper- 
ous farmer of < >M Lyme, living near 
the village of Lyme, was born in East 
Lyme, Conn., February 18, 1S40, son of Ezra 
C. and Lucy A. (Howard) Brockway. His 
great - grandfather was Elias Brockway, a 
farmer of this country and a man universally 



esteemed. Christopher, son of Elias, was 

mate of a vessel, and was lost at sea in 1832, 
when in the prime of life. He left a wife, 
whose maiden name was Christiana Chapel, 
and who reared and educated their family of 
four sons and five daughters on her small farm. 
Of this family, one daughter, "Aunt" Cam- 
line Beckwith, and two sons, Christopher 
Brockway, a resident of Denver, and Ezra C, 
lather of the subject of this sketch, are living. 
Ezra C. Brockway was limn in this town, then 
known as Lyme, on March 6, [814. He mar 
lied Lucy A., daughter ol Joshua Howard. 
She died October 3, 1X89. Her four children 
were: Joshua E., Joseph P., Christiana C, 
and Lucy J. Christiana C. married living 
Watrous, and died May 14, 1874, leaving an 
infant son, Walter, now a resident of East 
Lyme. Lucy J. Brockway, who was bom 
August 27, 1854, ami became a successful 
teacher, died November 19, 1.875. 

Joshua E. Brockway was reared on his 
father's farm, and received but a limited 
schooling. In the spring of 1861 he shipped 
as a sailor on a vessel engaged in the halibut- 
fishing industry; and he continued to follow 
the sea for some nine years. On his mar 
riage, in 1872, he made a wedding journey to 
Ohio, where he rented a farm for two years. 
At the end of that time he bought fifty ai 
which he cultivated until 1892, when he re 
turned to Lyme, to take charge of the farm 
owned by Mrs. Brockway's father. Here he 
carries on general farming, and keeps a dairy 
of four good cows, besides a yoke of oxen. 
He still retains the ownership of the Ohio 
farm. Mr. Brockway is a Democrat politi- 
cally, and has always voted the straight party 
ticket. lie stands firm for "honest money," 
and in 1896 he voted the gold ticket. He has 
been Selectman of Lyme, and has served on 
the Board of Relief. As a citizen his prob- 



292 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



ity is unquestioned, and his word is as good 
as his bond. 

On the 10th of March, 1S72, Mr. Brockway 
married Sarah II. Huntley, of this town, by 
whom he had one daughter, who died in in- 
fancy. Mrs. Brockway is a devoted member 
of the Congregational church and an active 
worker in its varied charitable and benevolent 
interests. Her parents were Sylvanus II. 
and Lvdia L. (Caulkins) Huntley, both of 
win mi have passed away. Mr. Huntley was 
shot when only thirty-two years of age, while 
in the discharge of his duty as constable; and 
his death made orphans of four children. 
Mrs. Huntley died in 1883, at the age of 
seventy-four. The living children of this 
family are: Louisa C. Huntley, living in this 
town; David C, a well-known farmer of 
Lyme; and Mrs. Brockway. Mary E. Hunt- 
lev, now deceased, was for some years a most 
successful teacher. She lived a life of great 
usefulness and helpful service to others, being 
active in church and Sunday-school work, and 
helpfully interested in every reform movement. 



rl> 



EORGE PREST, of New London, one 
V &T of the largest masonry contractors 
ami builders in the State, was born 
in Bolton, Lancashire, England, March 2, 
1830, son of George V. and Mary (Wignall) 
1'rest. The paternal grandfather, also named 
George, was engaged in lead mining in early 
life, and subsequently became a stone-mason. 
His wife bore him two sons and a daughter. 
The sons, Geoige and Edward, came to Amer- 
ica with their families in 1843, the voyage 
occupying thirty-one days. Both were stone- 
masons, and after their arrival in this coun- 
try they carried on a successful contracting 
and building business. In England, in 1820, 
George, who was also a native of Bolton, born 



in 1787, married Mary Wignall, another na- 
tive of Lancashire. Her parents had twenty- 
one children, of whom two were born twins, 
two were married on the same day, and two 
were buried on the same day. In her child- 
hood the mother of this numerous family 
planted an apple-seed. That, later in her 
life, yielded her the material for a wooden 
leg, when a white swelling on her knee made 
necessary the amputation of the limb. George 
and Mary 1'rest had five sons and two daugh- 
ters, of whom the only other survivor is Jacob, 
who resides in Bellaire, Ohio. Edward, the 
eldest son, was for many years a leading con- 
tractor and builder in this city, and acquired 
considerable property. Among the buildings 
erected by him are the Episcopal church and 
the city hall. He was twice married, but had 
no children. The mother died in England 
about 1837. The father, who afterward re- 
mained unmarried, died in this country in 
185 1, aged sixty-four years. 

The present George Brest learned the 
mason's trade with his brother Edward, and 
remained with him until 1864, acting as fore- 
man for a number of years prior to that. He 
subsequently succeeded Edward in the busi- 
ness, and man)' stately structures have since 
risen under his careful superintendence. 
Among them may be mentioned the elegant 
home of Henry A. Mott at Neptune's Nook; 
the Hooper Manufacturing Company's mills 
at Aucum, erected in 1865, on which sixty- 
five men were employed; the stone paper-mill 
in Montville for Bingham New, built in 
1866; the Bequot Dam, an arched structure, 
thirty-two feet high, forty feet wide at the 
base, and having steps tothe-top; the Rock- 
land paper-mill, a solid stone building com- 
pleted about 1868; the Second Congrega- 
tional Church edifice of New London and the 
Buckeye School-house, both of stone, put up 




PE IKK STEFFENSEN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 



2 95 



in 1871 ; the stone summer residence of 
Zebulon Ely, of New York City, in 1872; 
four large stone mills for Palmer Brothers, two 
at Fitchville ami two at Montville; a stone 

r-mill for C. M. Roberts & Son at Mont- 
ville; and the Union Railway Station in Nor 
wich, in [892. 1 Ie has also been largely em- 

ed on other masonry work, including the 
reservoir dam at Lake Konoroack tor the New 
1 -inl. .11 water supply, the foundations of the 
Harris Block and the Brainard & Armstrong 
silk-mill; and he has just completed the 
foundations for the new electric power house 
and the addition to the old savings-bank in 
this city. For the past twenty-four years he 

lone the bridge and culvert work for the 
New London & Northern Railroad, and he was 
the superintendent of the large stone dock at 
East New London for two years. 

Mr. Prest was first married in 1 S 5 3 to 
\li-s Lydia Morris, of Xew London. A son 
and daughter were bom to them, namely : 
Mary, who died at the age of nineteen years; 
and (ieorge B. Prest, who is living at home, 
and is a very promising young business man. 
The latter began as a messenger boy in the 
Hank of Commerce, where lie now holds the 
responsible position of cashier. He is the 
administrator of the estate of his uncle Ed- 
ward (being appointed without bonds), the 

surer of the Board of Trade, and a com- 
missioner of the town deposit fund. Mrs. 
Prest died in October, 1872; and Mr. Prest, 
Sr., afterward married Miss Martha Maria 
riffany, who was bom in Salem, New Lon- 
don Count}', and is a daughter of William 

my. She was a district-school teacher 
for a time, and then carried on dressmaking 
in New London. There are no children by 
this marriage. The family resides at 18 
Blackball Street, where Mr. Prest erected his 
fine residence in 1S89, after plans made by 



himself. He has one hundred and eight)- feet 
frontage on Belden Street and one hundred and 
twenty on Blackball Street, making an excep- 
tionally desirable estate. Politically, he is 
a loyal Republican, and has served on the 
Common Council. Mrs. Prest is an influen- 
tial member of the Second Congregational 
Church. 



-ovETER STEFFENSEN, of Norwich, 
^■^ residing just outside the city, on 
Laurel Hill, was born in Denmark, 
near Copenhagen, on May 31, 1857. He at- 
tended pay schools until he was fourteen years 
of age. Then he was confirmed in the Lu- 
theran church, and apprenticed for four years 
to the trade of ship-carpenter. During his 
apprenticeship he also took lessons in draw- 
ing and architecture. At eighteen he shipped 
from Copenhagen as ship's carpenter, at sixty 
crowns per month. His first voyage was to 
Brussels and Riga and back. In 1875 he sailed 
for Antwerp; and in 1876 he shipped as carpen- 
ter on board the Nova Scotia bark, "Josephine 
Benjamin," bound for Philadelphia, l'a. 

Upon reaching Philadelphia, which was his 
first stopping-place in America, Mr. Steffen- 
sen remained there for about a month. At 
the end of that time he sailed in an American 
three-masted schooner for Belfast, Ireland. 
Arrived in Belfast after a quick passage, he 
joined the crew of a Norwegian bark hound 
for Pensacola, Fla. From there he went to 
England, thence on a Scotch bark to (Que- 
bec, Canada, and to Swansea in Wales. He 
was next ashore at Gloucester, Mass. From 
there he went in the Nova Scotia barkentine 
"Economy," which was said to be the largest 
craft of her kind afloat, to New York City. 
Thence he visited successively St. John, 
N.B., Dublin, Philadelphia, and Belfast, and 



296 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKVY 



returned to St. John. Sailing next in an 
American barkentine, he went to Barcelona, 
Spain. On the return voyage the vessel was 
wrecked on the Bermuda Islands, and was sub- 
sequently condemned, the crew coming to 
New York by steamer. After spending a 
month in New York, he went by rail to Phila- 
delphia, from which port he sailed to Ant- 
werp, and thence to Yokahama, Japan, being 
one hundred and sixty-seven clays on the voy- 
age. After visiting other ports in Japan, he 
sailed for Sydney, Australia. In a subse- 
quent voyage from Hiago, Japan, to New 
York, by way of Cape Horn, the boat was out 
one hundred and seventy days, and won a new 
hat for the captain by getting into port ahead 
of another vessel. Mr. Steffensen next sailed 
for Cardiff, England. On this voyage the 
ship fell in with an abandoned vessel, which 
Mr. Steffensen and three others of the crew, 
including the first mate, undertook to take to 
England. The craft was soon found to be in 
a sinking condition, and the four men would 
have gone down with it had they not been res- 
cued just in time. They got ashore at South- 
ampton. From there they were sent by the 
English Shipwreck Society to London, and 
thence to Cardiff, where they saw their own 
vessel coming into port. 

Having been absent from home for seven 
years, Mr. Steffensen now returned to Copen- 
hagen for a two months' visit. He next took 
steamer for Antwerp, and thence shipped in a 
Dutch bark for Alexandria, Egypt. On this 
voyage he visited Smyrna, Salonica, Gibral- 
tar, and France. Returning to Antwerp, he 
shipped on a full-rigged German ship, bound 
for Philadelphia. In 1S84 he entered the 
United States Coast Survey as ship-carpenter, 
and remained in the service for six years, em- 
ed on cruisers engaged in surveying the At- 
lantic coast from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico. 



From the foregoing account it will be seen 
that Mr. Steffensen has visited every conti- 
nent, and most of the great ports of the world. 
He has acquired in this world-wide travel a 
surprising fund of information, and can spin 
sailor's yarns with the best purveyors of the 
article. He -left the sea when he resigned 
from the United States service in 1887, and 
same to Norwich, where he settled his family 
in Greenville. Here he purchased a few 
acres of land, which he has since planted with 
fruit-trees and shrubbery, and upon which he 
erected his pleasant dwelling-house. P'or the 
last four years he has been the repair man for 
the Uncas Paper Mills. He is a member of 
the American Order of United Workmen and 
a Master Mason. In politics he is a Re- 
publican. 

Mr. Steffensen was united in marriage with 
Alida Anderson, on November 29, 1885, the 
twenty-fifth birthday of the bride. Mrs. Stef- 
fensen was born in Gotten burg, Sweden, 
daughter of Andres Anderson. She was only 
sixteen years old when she arrived in Ston- 
ington, Conn., where Mr. Steffensen first be- 
came acquainted with her. Mr. and Mrs. 
Steffensen have a very interesting family of 
children, and are desirous of giving them 
every educational advantage, including a train- 
ing in music, for which the children have 
a marked talent. The eldest child, Albert 
Palmer, was born August 6, 1887. The next 
is Abby Palmer, born December 11, 1889; 
and the youngest is Raymond, a bright little 
man of five years, born July 17, 1892. 




HOMAS MURRAY, one of the ablest 
farmers in the county, was born in 
Ayrshire, Scotland, March 29, 1S35, 
son of Gilbert and Janet Murray. The grand- 
father, Gilbert Murray, a Scotch farmer, lived 



IMOCRAI'IIICAL REVIEW 



297 



and died on his native heath. He had three 
suns anil two daughters. His son Gilbert, 
|r ., who was bom Decembei 7, 1805, married 
in [826, and had thirteen children. Two of 
their sons came to this country. The father 
and mother followed them two years later, ac- 

ipanied by ten children. In the next year 

the remaining son followed with his bride. 
William died in Illinois in 1880, at the age 

irty-three, leaving a widow and four chil- 
dren. Nellie, who was the wife of Edwin 
Niles, died in 1887, at the age of thirty-nine 
years, leaving two children. The parents 
bought a farm of two hundred acres in Salem, 
where they lived until the death of the father, 
in icS86. The mother, after surviving her 
husband five years, died in Norwich in [891. 
In religion they were Congregationalists. 
The father was a well-informed man, was 
First Selectman for a time, and was in the 
laturc. 
Thomas Murray received a part of his edu- 
cation in Scotland. In 1 86 1 he enlisted in 
the Fiftieth New York Volunteer Engineers 
for three years. Upon receiving his honor- 
able discharge after the expiration of that 
term, he re-enlisted in the same corps. Dur- 
ing the entire war he was off duty but two 
days, lie was in the Pontoon Brigade, and 
worked on forts in front oi Petersburg ami at 

1 places. Though blessed with g ! 

health, his experience in the field impaired 
his physical condition, and in consideration of 
this he draws a small pension. On March 1, 
[881, he married Mrs. Clarissa A. Sisson, the 
widow of Ebenezer F. Sisson and a daughter 
of Joseph I), and Clarissa (Watrous) Will- 
iams, all of Colchester. Her grandfather, 
Daniel Williams, married Asenath Day. Her 
father, one ol eleven children, was born April 
1 -\ 1799. lie married Miss Watrous, who 
died in 1891, at the age of eighty-one. Mrs. 



Murray comes of a long-lived race. Nearly 
all her ancestors and their children were octo- 
genarians. Her parents had five children, 
one of whom died in early youth. She v 
student at Bacon Academy, and taught her 
first school at the age of fifteen years. At the 
age of twenty-two she married E. T. Sisson, 
who died February 7, 1879, aged fifty-six 
years. Her children by Mr. Sisson were: a 
son. who died in infancy: Katie, who died at 
the age of four years: and Millie W.. who is 
the wife of the Rev. Charles A. Purdy, a pas- 
tor in the Methodist church, and has a daugh- 
ter, Clara I']. Purdy. Gilbert Joseph Murray, 
the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Murray, was 
born February 17, 1884. 

Mr. Murray owns a line faun of one hun- 
dred and seventy acres, which is kept in the 
most perfect condition, and shows Mr. Murray 
to be a thorough farmer. Besides carrying on 
general farming, he is engaged the year round 
in making butter, which is of the finest qual- 
ity, and brings the highest market price. 
His fine estate shows him to be a typical 
Scotchman, frugal and industrious, lie is an 
adherent of the Republican party, and he puts 
more faith in deeds than creeds. Mis. Mur- 
ray is a member of the Congregational church. 



"-fTYTVASON CRARY HILL, a dealer in 
t= I =/ paints, oils, and similar materials. 
g\ aJJ? \^^ alu ] a jobber in general mer- 
chandise, was bom in the north-western part 
of Stonington, Conn., January 27, 1817. His 
foster-father, John Bennett, by whom he was 
reared, was a farmer in this town. Mr. Ben- 
nett was also a house and ship carpenter, hav- 
ing been employed many years by the Leeds, 
who were early ship-builders in Old Mystic. 
Mr. 1 1 ill was the only son of his mother. 
Mary Hill, who was born on Block Island 



29S 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



in 1798, daughter of Robinson and Lydia 
(Briggs) Hill and a descendant of the Hills of 
Massachusetts. The mother was living in her 
island home during the War of 1812, and 
afterward well remembered the stirring events 
of that time. Although Mr. Hill began life 
in humble circumstances, sadly handicapped 
in many ways, he has bravely surmounted all 
obstacles, and won an assured position among 
the respected and valued citizens of his native 
town. He had a step-father, a Mr. Mitchell, 
whom he never knew, his early home having 
been with Mr. Bennett; but it was his privi- 
lege and pleasure to tenderly care for his 
mother in her last years. 

Mason C. Hill began working for his living 
when a very young boy. At the age of four- 
teen he used to go on fishing-smacks as cook. 
On one of his first voyages he came very near 
being killed by having his head crushed be- 
tween two vessels, his rescue from death being 
almost a miracle. At the age of seventeen he 
left his foster-parents to serve an apprentice- 
ship of three years at the carpenter's trade 
with Joseph Frink, on the conditions that he 
would receive one month's schooling yearly 
and one hundred dollars and a set of tools 
when his time would expire. He was not al- 
lowed to attend school; and, instead of receiv- 
ing the tools and money referred to, he bought 
the last three months of his time from Mr. 
Frink for sixty dollars. He worked at his 
trade in West Hoboken, going there after the 
great fire, previous to 1840. Then he secured 
a position as carpenter in Groton, his wages 
being fixed at one dollar per day and board; 
but, when his employer cut his pay to seventy- 
five cents a day, he left him. Coming then 
to Mystic, he worked for a time at boat-build- 
ing for eighty-four cents a day. He after- 
ward shipped for New Orleans. Upon his re- 
turn from that voyage he was offered one 



dollar a day as a ship-carpenter, in the yards 
of Irons & Grinnell, his pay to continue, rain 
or shine. He continued working as a ship 
and house carpenter for some time, carrying 
on business for eight years for Charles 
Mallory in Mystic. In 185S he went to 
Jersey City, N.J., to superintend the con- 
struction of a dry dock, remaining there till 
the fall of i860. In this year he formed a 
partnership with Amos Grinnell, and for the 
ensuing fifteen years was engaged in ship- 
building under the firm name of Hill & Grin- 
nell, constructing in that time many steam- 
ships. 

During the war Mr. Hill was employed by 
the government in Connecticut and New 
York to superintend the building of war 
vessels ; and for nineteen months in Cincinnati 
he superintended the construction of ironclad 
monitors at a salary of four thousand dollars. 
These ironclads, the "Catawba" and the 
"Oneoto," built in 1863 and 1864, which 
were never in action, were subsequently sold 
to the Peruvian government. Afterward he 
lost about five thousand dollars by the burning 
of his ship-yard. In 1891 he embarked in his 
present mercantile business, in which he is 
meeting with good success. 

Mr. Hill was married in 1842 to Mary Ann 
Williams, a woman of rare loveliness of char- 
acter and personality. She was accidentally 
drowned July 4, 1 S53, leaving an adopted 
daughter. The latter is Phebe, the widow of 
John Forsyth, who died during the war, leav- 
ing two little ones. In 1855 Mr. Hill mar- 
ried Margaret Wheeler, of Stonington, a 
daughter of Stephen A. Wheeler. Of the 
eight children born of this union, two are now 
living — -John E. and Herbert Crary. John 
E. Hill, after graduating from Yale Univer- 
sity, took a post-graduate course at Clark Uni- 
versity, and is now serving his second year as 



I.H IGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



299 



professor of mathematics, his favorite science, 
in Columbia College. He is married, and 
has one daughter, Herbert Crary, also a 
graduate of Yale, is a civil engineer by pro- 
Eession. One of Air. Hill's daughters, Mary 
Ann, who married Frank II. Sheffield, died 
having two children, one of them an infant. 
Mr. Hill is a stanch Republican, takes an ac- 
tive interest in public affairs, and has served 
for two trims as Selectman of the town. He 
is a member of the Methodist church, and for 
mure than thirty years has been the secretary 
of the Hoard of Trustees. Liberal and active 
in all religious movements, he has given finan- 
cial aid toward the erection of three churches. 



OSHUA HALEY, of the hardware firm 
of Haley & Chesebro, one of the oldest 
and most reliable houses in Stoning- 
ton, was born on the old Haley homestead in 
this town, September 5, 1822. A son of 
Joshua and Rebecca (Brown) Haley, his an- 

ry is traced through five generations to 
John Haley and his wife, Mary (Saunders) 
Haley, who are known to have lived in Centre 

ion, Conn., as early as 1738. They were 
the parents of six children, four sons and two 
liters. ( )f these John, Joshua, and Caleb 
remained at Centre Groton. John, from whom 
this branch of the family is descended, came 
to Stonington, and settled on a large tract of 
land, much of which was covered with a heavy 
growth of timber. This place was the family 
home for four generations. John married 
Deborah banning, and became the father of 
thirteen children, four sons and nine daugh- 

. all of whom grew up, and all but one 
married. The sous were named: John, Ed- 
mund, Joshua, ami Belcher. Edmund married 
Polly Irish; Joshua left no issue; and Belcher 
married a Miss Harry. One daughter, Abi- 



gail, was married May 10, 1770, to William 
Miner, anil had twelve children; another, 
whose name is not given, was the wii 
John West; Zeruiah married David Smith in 
1777, and afterward lived in Mystic, Conn.; 
Hannah married Manassa Miner in 1779, and 
had seven children; Mary became the wife oi 
Thomas Leeds in 1773; Constance marri 
Burdick; Lucy married Nathan Burdick in 
1784; Deborah was the wife oi Elisha Han- 
cock; and Phebe did not marry. The father 
died in 1S13, at an advanced age, and the 
mother in 1827. 

John Haley, son of the preceding bearer oi 
the name, was born in Stonington in 1763. 
During the Revolutionary War he served on 
the American privateer "Yankee." On Oc- 
tober 21, 1792, he married Priscilla bellows, 
a descendant of an old family here. Three 
sons were born to them, namely: John. July 
22, 1793; Joshua, March 15, 1795: and 
Elihu, born May 8, 1797. Joshua, the father 
of the subject of this sketch, succeeded his 
father as owner of the old homestead at the 
Roads. About the year 1832 he moved to the 
village, and engaged in cabinet-making, .1 
trade he learned in Hebron, Conn. He 
worked at that and carpentering for some 
years. Rebecca, his wife, to whom he was 
married in 1821, was a daughter of David and 
Lydia (Billings) Brown. Her fathei was in 
the Revolutionary War; and her mother, wlfl> 
lived ninety-six years and some months, drew 
a pension for many years as his widow. Of 
their twelve children five reached mature life, 
namely: Joshua, the subject of this sketch; 
Rebecca, who was the wife of John Brown, "I 
Quiambog, and died in 1894. aged seventy 
years, leaving four children; Jane, wife of 
James Norman, a large fanner of Poquetanuck, 
in Ledyard; John E., who lives in New- 
Britain, Conn. : and Harriet, who is still sin 



3°° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Joshua Haley, the special subject of this 
biography, attended school at the Roads 
church until ten years old, when his father re- 
moved to Stonington village. From the aye 
of seventeen to that of twenty-one he served 
an apprenticeship as a worker in tin and iron, 
and in 1X47 started in business for himself as 
a hardware merchant. Beginning on a small 
scale with a limited stock, he has built up 
the business so that it now gives employment 
to from two to four men. He had conducted 
it alone for nearly twenty years, when, in 
1 866, his present partner, E. S. Chesebro, 
who had previously been in his employ, be- 
came a member of the firm. The new firm, 
Haley & Chesebro, at once removed from the 
old stand down town to their present commo- 
dious quarters, where they occupy three floors, 
and carry a large and varied line of goods. 
The store is the leading one of its description 
in Stonington. Mr. Haley is one of the old- 
est merchants here, fifty years having passed 
since he established the business. 

On New Year's Day, 1851, Mr. Haley anil 
Miss Matilda Williams were united in mar- 
riage. She was born at Groton Bank, Conn., 
and is a daughter of Captain Peter and Amy 
(Daniels) Williams. In his younger days her 
father was a sea captain, and later ran the 
New London ferry-boat, which was drawn by 
four horses. A son and daughter have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Haley. The daughter, 
Matilda W. Haley, is a lady of musical abil- 
ity, ami lives at home. George W. Haley, 
the sen. now ,1 newsdealer in Stonington, was 
a student in the agricultural department of 
Amherst College, and was at one time era- 
ployed in the railroad office here. He mar- 
ried Hope Dyer, of Providence, R.I. Pre- 
viously a Whig, Joshua Haley has been a 
Republican since the birth of his party. He 
has served in various minor offices and as 



Burgess. Under President Lincoln he was 
appointed United States Weigher, an office 
that he held until it was abolished, some eight 
or ten years later. During his term of office 
in this capacity he weighed four shiploads of 
railroad iron. He was also Justice of the 
Peace for ten years. Mr. Haley is affiliated 
with the Masonic order, being a Knight 
Templar, and with the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, being the oldest member in this 
county. He joined the latter fifty years ago, 
has been through all the chairs, and he was 
a Representative to the Grand Lodge three 
times. In the Congregational church he is 
the senior Deacon and a trustee, and he has 
been the superintendent of the Sunday-school 
for a quarter of a century. He has resided at 
the corner of Main and Church Streets for 
thirty years. 



HENRY C. JOHNSON, the efficient 
manager of the William G. Johnson 
, Company dye works at Uncasville, 

in the town of Montville, was born here July 
10, 1843, son of William G. and Louisa 
(Matthewson) Johnson. His paternal great- 
great-great-grandfather emigrated from Scot- 
land to America. The grandfather, William, 
was born near Norwich, Conn., in 1765. On 
June 26, 1799, he married Nancy, daughter of 
John Leach, a farmer of this town. They 
had these children: William G., born in New 
London, April 3, 1S00; Robert, born July 1, 
1S01 ; Nicholas, born in February, 1S03; 
Nancy, born May 30, 1807; and Sarah, who 
is the widow of Erastus Osgood, a brother of 
the late Dr. Charles Osgood, and resides in 
Vermont, being still bright and active. The 
parents of these children have long since 
passed to the life immortal. 

William G. Johnson, father of Henry C, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



3°' 



married Louisa Matthewson, a native 
Bozrahville, this county, in 1823. Immedi- 
ately after his marriage he went, accompanied 
by his wife, to Buenos Ayres, South America, 
when- for twelve years thereafter he was en- 
1 in trade. They had five sons and four 
daughters, eight of whom grew to maturity: 
Mary, Caroline, Nicholas \\\, Louisa, An- 
drew T., Edwin C, Charles S., Henry C, 
and Lucy. Mary 'lied in infancy in Buenos 
Ayres. Caroline married Samuel Townsend, 
and died in 1 863 in Bovina, Miss., leaving 
four children. Nicholas \V. is a banker in 
Des Moines, Iowa. Louisa, widow of Robert 
II. Gardner, resides in Norwich. Andrew T., 
who was Captain of Company A, Thirteenth 
Connecticut Regiment, met his death in a 
railroad disaster. Lie was twenty-eight years 
oi age and unmarried. Edwin C. resides on 
the old homestead. Charles S. is a resident 
ol Norwich, Lucy married Dr. McLprd, and 
both she and her husband died in Kansas 
City, Mo. 

Henry C. Johnson, after acquiring his edu- 
cation, engaged successively in various occu- 
ons. He subsequently became a live- 
stock dealer, going South to Texas after 
cattle, and being one of the first in that enter- 
to drive a herd to Colorado. He re- 
mained in the West eleven years. He now 
owns M>me of the best blooded horses on the 
turf, among them being: Bessie Ilessell, a 
very promising colt, by Father Wilkes, able 
to trot in j. 10; Walter J.; and a valuable 
mare, Westeria. He became the owner of the 
dye works five years ago, when it comprised 
but thirty-lour mills. Since then he has re- 
fitted the plant at an expense of thirty-four 
thousand dollars. He takes a justifiable pride 
in the quality and high reputation of his 
goods. 

On August 15, 1871, Mr. Johnson was mar- 



ried to Rebecca M., daughter of Richard 

Wells. Her father, a native oi W Hairy, 

N.J., was a cotton broker and dry-goods mer- 
chant in Natchez, Miss. Her mother, 
Laycock in maidenhood, was born in Camden, 
N.J. Mr. and Mis. Johnson have had seven 
children, five of whom are living; namely, 
William G., Richard W. , Sarah, Nancy 
Leach, and Charles S. William G. was grad- 
uated at the Norwich Business College, and is 
now book-keeper in the dye works. Richard 
W., a young man of twenty-two, is superin- 
tendent of the William G. Johnson Company. 
Sarah, who was graduated at McLean's Semi- 
nary in Simsbury, Conn., is a tine pianist. 
Nancy, a young lady of seventeen, is now a 
student in the same seminar}-. Charles S., 
who possesses musical talent, plays the snare 
drum in Johnson's Military Hand, which was 
organized in [894, and has since won a fine 
reputation. Mr. Johnson owns the old fiddle 
which was found in the Niles House in [812. 
In politics Mr. Johnson is an independent 
voter. He is identified with Mohegan Lodge, 
I. O. O. F., having attained its highest office, 
and he also belongs to the encampment. 



- •• • — ■ 




/ ILLIAM J. BROWN, who was a 
prosperous and well-known farmer 
ni Ledyard, was born in this town, 
August 31, 1X41, son of James J. and Sophia 
E. (Crandall) Brown. The father was a na- 
tive of Rhode Island, born near llopkinton, 
.April 3, 1S06. When five years old, as his 
parents had a large family of children, he left 
home to live with his uncle, James W 
bridge, a large land-owner of Ledyard, who had 
no children. His marriage with Sophia E. 
Crandall was solemnized in [840. She was 
born May 15, 181 1. They became the par- 
ents of two sons — William J. and .Albert /. 



302 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Albert is a farmer on a portion of the old 
Woodbridge farm. The mother was nearly 
eighty-four when she died on March 4, 1895. 

William J. Brown supplemented a district- 
school education with three terms of study 
in Dr. Hart's High School at Stonington 
Point. When nineteen years old he began 
teaching, which calling he followed in the 
winter season for several years. The most of 
his life, however, was spent in agricultural 
pursuits. He died January 2, 1897, on the 
farm whereon he had passed his last fourteen 
years. 

On September 14, 1S82, Mr. Brown mar- 
ried Mrs. Jennie A. Sabin, the widow of 
Charles Sabin, by whom she had no children. 
She is a daughter of Henry and Lucy (Smith) 
Denison, who were natives respectively of 
Stonington and Groton, Conn. Mr. Denison 
thirty years ago settled on this farm" of one 
hundred acres, and continued to live here 
until his death, April 5, 1885. Mrs. Brown 
then succeeded to the property. Her parents' 
ten children, three sons and seven daughters, 
grew to maturity; and eight are living in this 
section. Her mother died May 23, 1872, in 
her seventy-fifth year. Mr. Denison lacked 
but three days of ninety-two years of age at 
the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
have one daughter living, Jennie E. , born 
July 6, 1883, who is an apt scholar in the 
common branches of study, and possesses con- 
siderable musical talent. 

Though afflicted with heart-disease for 
years, Mr. Brown was always a hard worker, 
and at his death left his wife and daughter in 
good circumstances. Mr. Brown was always 
prominent in public affairs, and highly es- 
teemed in the community as a man of sterling 
worth. He represented Ledyard in the State 
legislature for two terms, and served as School 
Visitor for several years, taking a deep inter- 



est in educational matters. Mrs. Brown and 
daughter are members of the First Groton 
Baptist Church. They reside on the farm. 



YfTyCHARD WILLIAM CHADWICK, 
I |^y a prosperous farmer of Old Lyme, 
*-? V j owner of the Chadwick farm, which 
has been in the family from the time of the 
Revolution, was born here, September 17, 
1836, son of George H. and Mary (Sparrow) 
Chadwick. The paternal grandfather, Rich- 
ard Chadwick, married a Miss Terry, of Long 
Island, by whom he had one son and one 
daughter, George and Betsey. The last 
named became the wife of Grant Chamber- 
lain, reared a family of four daughters, and 
died at an advanced age in Litchfield County. 
George H. Chadwick adopted farming as his 
life occupation, and was cpiite successful. 
Esteemed by his fellow-townsmen, he was 
elected to various positions of trust and re- 
sponsibility, including that of Selectman. 
He saw military service in the War of 1812, 
and at its close received an honorable dis- 
charge. . In 1S33 he married Mary Sparrow, 
of this town, daughter of Union Sparrow; and 
by her he had two children — ■ George R. and 
Richard W. George, who went to sea, lost 
his life in 1852 when nineteen years old, by 
falling from the mizzen rigging of a vessel. 
The father and mother of the subject of this 
sketch, and also his grandparents, are resting 
in Old Lyme cemetery. The parents were 
members of the Congregational church. 

Richard W. Chadwick was educated in the 
town schools and at Lyme Academy. Like 
his father, he became a farmer, in which occu- 
pation he has been successful. Politically, 
he is an ardent Republican. He takes a 
warm interest in town affairs, and has been 
repeatedly elected to public office. Until 




LICHARD W. CIIADWICK. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



3°S 



June, 1895, he was Deputy Sheriff, having 
held that position for thirty years with the 

I it ion of his period of service in the legis- 
lature and two years under a Democratic ad- 
ministration, lie was instrumental in captur- 
ing the notorious gang of Bridgeport burglars 
in 1885, and at that time narrowly escaped 
death by a pistol shot tired by one of the 
youthful desperadoes while the Sheriff was 
placing him under arrest. In 1873 and 1889 
he was sent by his town to the lower branch 
of the State legislature, where he served his 
constituents with the fidelity and ability 
which have always marked his administration 
11I public office. In April, 1896, he was ap- 
pointed County Commissioner for a term of 
three years. A Master Mason, he was for- 
merly a member of Mount Olive Lodge, and 
now belongs to Pythagoras Lodge of Lyme. 

At the age of twenty-two years Mr. Chad- 
wick married Maria Bracey, of this town, 
who bore him two children (twins) : G. 
Robert Chadwick; and Maria, now Mrs. 
Charles Stanton, of Hartford. The mother 
died while her children were yet infants. 
Mi. Chadwick married for his second wife, 
in January, 1886, Miss A. M. Rowland. In 

ions belief the family are Congregation- 
alists. 




ILLIAM DENISON ROGERS, the 

well-known ice dealer on Laurel 
Hill in Norwich, was born in 
Salem. Conn., February 15, 1831. A son of 
William Pendleton Rogers, he belongs to the 
twelfth generation descended from the John 
Rogers who was burned at the stake in Eng- 
land in the reign of Queen Mary. This 
branch of the Rogers family is one of the old 
anil worthy families of the county. Denison 
Rogers, the grandfather, married Nancy Pen- 
dleton, and had four sons and three daughters 



— Alfred, Henry, William, James, Charlotte, 
Lucy, and Emily. Alfred was Captain ami 
James a Colonel in the militia. 

William Pendleton Rogers, who was a 
teacher for many years, married in 1S30 Lucy 
Caroline Beebe, of Last Great Plain. She 
was born in 1809, daughter of Joab Beebe, 
wdio settled here in 1790. After the marriage 
they rented a farm in Salem. Two years 
later they removed to the old Beebe farm in 
Norwich, where they remained during the rest 
of their long and useful lives. Their children 
were: William Denison, Joab B., Emily, 
Mary Elizabeth, Nancy Maria, Jenny L., and 
J. Frank. Joab B. Rogers is the present 
jailer at New London. Emily died unmarried 
in 1873. Mary E. was married in California, 
and died there, leaving two children. Her 
twin sister, Nancy M.. is unmarried, and re- 
sides at the old farm. Jenny L. became Mis. 
Harris. J. Frank is a farmer and a mail agent 
of Salem. 

William Denison Rogers remained at home 
until he reached his majority. He then 
bought a few acres of land in Great Plain, ami 
built the house to which he took his bride 011 
March 28, 1865. She was Susan Frances, 
daughter of Gardner and Martha (Rates) Hull. 
Mr. Rogers has been in the ice trade foi 
thirty-two years, supplying ice both at whole- 
sale and retail. His ice is obtained from the 
pure spring water which comes from his own 
water works on the hill, and which is con- 
ducted several hundred feet from the three 
reservoirs built by Mr. Rill. He bought 
this property on time, going in debt to the ex- 
tent of five thousand dollars for the fust pur- 
chase, and afterward buying over forty ai 
for the sum of one thousand dollars. Within 
live years he had paid up his entire in 
ness. He is now our oi the solid farmers of 
the county. 



3° 6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have two sons anil a 
daughter. Their first-born, William Gardner, 
who is at home on the farm, spent a part of 
the year 1896 in California. Fanny Bell 
Rogers and her younger brother, John Deni- 
son, were educated in the Norwich High 
School. Miss Rogers is now cashier in the 
large store of Porteous & Mitchell, where she 
handles several hundred dollars daily. Mr. 
Rogers is a Republican voter, as was his 
father, though his ancestors were adherents of 
the opposite party. He carries on general 
farming, and besides three horses he keeps fif- 
teen cows of the Holstein and Guernsey 
grades. He has made many improvements on 
his farm, including the erection of a double 
ice-house and sundry out-houses. 



--+-*•»-♦ 



DWARD KEEFE, an enterprising gro- 
cer doing business at 495 Bank Street, 
New London, was born in Newfound- 
land, April 4, 1852, son of Richard and Eliz- 
abeth (Brown) Keefe. The father, who was 
born in Ireland in 1S24, married Elizabeth 
Brown, of the same country, and emigrated to 
Newfoundland. Subsequently he came to 
New London, where he followed the trade of 
tailor during the rest of his life. Of his 
seven children six were reared, namely: Ed- 
ward, the subject of this sketch; Mary, of this 
city; James, a resident of Syracuse, N.Y.; 
Ellen, the wife of John Callahan; Thomas, 
who resides at home and is unmarried; and 
Richard, who also lives with his widowed 
mother on Bank Street. 

After acquiring a public-school education 
in this city, Edward Keefe had learned the 
machinist's trade at the age of seventeen. He- 
was employed for seventeen years thereafter in 
two concerns, serving the New London & 
Northern Railroad for fourteen years. In the 



spring of 1885 he established his present gro- 
cery. He is the owner of his residence at 
281 Bank Street and of another place on the 
corner of Bank and Ocean Avenue. On Sep- 
tember 23, 1875, he was married to Bridget 
Rowe, of this city. Her parents, James and 
Elizabeth (Dray) Rowe, came from Ireland in 
1851. Her father is dead; but her mother is 
still living, and has three daughters and one 
son. Mr. and Mrs. Keefe have six children 
— Mary, Frank, Fred, Edward, Bessie, and 
Lucy. Mary was graduated from Williams 
Memorial High School of this city in June, 
1895. Frank, who was also a high-school 
graduate, is now the book-keeper in his 
father's store. The other children are still 
attending school. In politics Mr. Keefe is a 
sound money Democrat. He is a member of 
Trumble Lodge, No. 47, K. of P. ; of the 
Ancient Order of Foresters of America; of 
the Knights of Columbus; and of St. John's 
Literary Association. In religion both he 
and Mrs. Keefe are Roman Catholics. 




1LLIAM A. ERASER, book-keeper 
for the Robert Palmer & Son Com- 
pany at Noank, in the tewn of Gro- 
ton, Conn., was born in Bath, Me., January 
20, 1856, son of Simon Campbell and Jane 
(Nicholson) Eraser. 

Simon C. Fraser, now a wharf builder at 
New London, was born at Kirk Hill, Inver- 
ness, Scotland, January 1, 1825. He was a 
son of Donald and grandson of Donald, Sr. , a 
lineal descendant of Simon Levat, a noted 
Highlander, and at one time a contestant of 
his estate. 

The family, nicknamed Maconie (from land 
owned by the family for many generations), 
immigrated in 1832 to Nova Scotia, where 
Donald, the father of Simon, died at the age 



IJIOCRAI'HKAL REVIEW 



3°7 



of eighty. There were seven children, and 
five are now living, namely: Simon C. and 
f. Dun. ild, of Now London; Ann Cameron, of 
New Glasgow, N.S.; and Margaret Hender- 
son and Jennie Fraser, of Boston, Mass. 

In 1868 Simon C. Fraser came to New 
London, and engaged in the ship-building in- 
dustry; and about twenty years ago he took up 
wharf building, in which he still continues to 
do a profitable business. He resides at 115 
Main Street, New London. Simon C. and 
his wife, Jane, who died December 21, 1S84, 
had eight children. The three now living 
are: William A., of Noank ; George W., an 
engineer and dock builder, engaged with his 
father in New London: and Jean C, a grad- 
uate of the class of 1896 in the Ladies' High 
School in that city. 

William A. Fraser received his education 
in the common and high schools of New Lon- 
don. IK- assumed the duties of his present 
position with the Palmer Company a little 
more than eight years ago, in 1889. Five 
years before, mi December 3, 1884, he mar- 
ried Miss Lena Brown, of Noank, daughter 
-I George and Harriet (Cromwell) Brown. 
Her father is master of a fishing schooner, of 
which he is half-owner. She has one brother, 
Will riil Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Fraser have 
one child, Lloyd Wilfrid. 

Politically, Mr. Fraser is a Prohibitionist 
from the ranks of the Democratic party. He 
and his wile are members oi tin- Baptist 
church, in which he is a Deacon, the clerk, 
and a teacher in the Sunday-school. The 
church has been a very active and prosperous 
nne, and a year or two ago Mr. Fraser wrote a 
comprehensive ami interesting history of its 
work in this community. Mr. Fraser is 
deeply interested in the welfare of the village, 
lb- was the president of the Village Improve- 
ment Association for a term of years, was one 



of the organizers ol the lire department in the 
village, and for the first two years after organ- 
ization was its executive head. 



■EfrABEZ S. LATHROP, a v< teran teacher, 
now retired ami residing in North 
Washington Street, Norwich, was born 
May 28, icS24, in Bozrah, this county, son of 
Simeon and Phcebe (Peckham) Lathrop. The 
paternal great-grandfather, who was also 
named Simeon, lived on the farm on Blue 
Hill. This estate, comprising one hundred 
and sixty acres of land, was settled by an 
earlier ancestor, to whom it was granted by 
the Colonial authorities, and is now owned by 
Mrs. Jane Smith, a sister of Jabez S. Lathrop. 
The great-grandfather was ninety-eight years 
of age when he died. His son Andrew, who 
was born on the Lathrop homestead, there 
spent his life, principally engaged in farming, 
and died at the age of seventy-nine years, 
from injuries inflicted by an enraged ram. 
The first of Andrew's two marriages was con- 
tracted with Lucrctia Smith, who died in the 
prime of life. She had two sons and four 
daughters. The son Azariah, who died in 
Vernon, Tolland County, in 1891, nearly 
eighty years of age, married a Miss Hunting- 
ton. Andrew's second wife was Zerviah 
Polly Lathrop. 

Simeon Lathrop, the lather of Jabez S., 
lived to be nearly ninety-three 
and was in the full possession ol his mental 
powers up to the time of his death in [886. 
He was twice married. By the first marriage 
there was one son, William, who volunteered 
from Pembroke for service in the late war, 
and who was mortally wounded while in a 
skirmish just before the battle of Pull Run. 
1 le died during the battle on Sunday, and is 
buried in an unknown grave. His captain 



3 ot 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



said that he was a typical soldier, and that no 
braver one had ever been known. By his 
marriage with Phoebe Peckham, who died 
about 1850, at the age of fifty-one, he had five 
sons and five daughters, all of whom grew to 
maturity. They were: Andrew, Lucy, Jabez 
S. , Alanson, Peckham, Jane, David A., 
Lydia, Ann Hasseltine, and Phoebe Calista. 
Andrew Lathrop, born in 1822, was a carriage 
builder in Belvidere, 111., and died there at 
the age of seventy. Lucy is the widow of 
John Ashcroft, and resides in Franklin with 
her sister, Mrs. Lydia Smith. Alanson died 
in 1867, leaving a widow. Jane is the widow 
of Lucien H. Smith, and, as above intimated, 
resides in Franklin. David went to Michi- 
gan, and is there living in Chase, Lake 
County. Lydia, the twin sister of David, is 
the widow of Henry Smith. Ann married 
A. F. Park, a brother of the late Judge J. D. 
Park. She died in 1892, leaving one daugh- 
ter, Miss Annie Park, a graduate of the Nor- 
wich Free Academy and a most competent 
teacher in this town. PlKebe, who lived to 
be about twenty years of age, was the first of 
the family to die. 

Jabez S. Lathrop was educated in the com- 
mon schools under Martin Pomeroy Wells, 
who was afterward the able vice-president of 
Marietta College. Mr. Lathrop was subse- 
quently a student at an academy. When 
eighteen years of age he began to teach 
school. This profession he afterward fol- 
lowed for nearly forty-seven years, meeting 
with rare success as an instructor. lie is 
now one of the twelve trustees of the State 
School for Boys, and is the acting chairman of 
the board. Though not a church member, he 
is an energetic worker in the First Congrega- 
tional Church of Norwich, which dates back 
to 1660; and he has for many years sung in 
the choir. On coming to Norwich forty 



years ago, he rented the comfortable and 
pleasant dwelling which is now his home, 
and shortly afterward bought it. He has 
served the town as Selectman for five years, 
and was in the legislature in 1879, 1881, and 
1884, where he showed himself thoroughly in- 
formed on all questions of public importance. 
Besides this he was also County Treasurer for 
nine years. In politics he is a Republican, 
and his first Presidential vote was cast for 
Henry Clay. Not long since a partial stroke 
of paralysis obliged him to give up teaching. 

On December 4, 184S, Mr. Lathrop was 
united in marriage with Julia, a daughter of 
Elijah J. and Joanna R. (Kllis) Backus and a 
grand-daughter of Asa Backus, who was the 
third Asa Backus in this town. The fourth 
Asa is Asa William Backus, of Toledo, Ohio. 
Besides an infant daughter Mr. and Mrs. 
Lathrop have lost a son, Joseph Backus La- 
throp, who left a wife and two daughters — 
Julia B. and Helen W., both residents of 
Columbus, Ohio. Four of their children are 
living. Their daughter Helen M. is a grad- 
uate of the Norwich Free Academy ami a 
highly successful teacher of Norwich. Her 
sister, Julia L., is the wife of Walter H. 
Potter and the mother of one daughter, Ruth 
Lathrop Potter. Alanson P. Lathrop is the 
secretary and treasurer of the gas company in 
Columbus, Ohio. He married Ella Farquhar, 
and has two children — Grayson F. and Ger- 
trude. Gertrude L., the youngest child of 
Jabez S. Lathrop, is now the wife of Alonzo 
M. Luther, of Norwich. 



)N S. ASH BEL CRANDALL, a 
prominent Norwich lawyer, was born 

" V . in Ledyard, October 12, 1851, son 

of Stiles and Caroline L. (Greene) Crandall, 
and grandson of Welles and Sally (Wood- 





S. ASHBEL CRANDALL. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



3ii 



bridge) Crandall. Welles Crandall, who was 
a native of Rhode Island, followed the trade 
of tanner in Preston. His wife, who was horn 
hi dinton, lived to he sixt) years of age; and 
he died in middle life. They are buried in 
Ledyard. They had a son and three daugh- 
ters. 

Stiles Crandall, the only son of Welles 
Crandall, was horn in Groton, November 25, 
[8l }. He is a highly esteemed and successful 
farmer of Ledyard, where he and his wife still 
reside on their farm. Although advanced in 
years, they are remarkably active. Mrs. 
line I.. Crandall is a daughter of Stephen 
and Sarah (Bolles) Greene, of Waterford, 
Conn. Her marriage with Stiles Crandall 
was performed in i8a_p Of their two sons 
and a daughter, S. Ashbel is the only sur- 
vivor. Caroline .Augusta died at eight years 
of age, and Stiles lived to he hut thirteen 
months old. Beginning soon after attaining 
his legal majority, the lather served the town 
in different offices until he was seventy years 
old. He was Assessor for thirty consecutive 
In i860 he was elected to the State 
legislature by the largest majority ever given 
in his district. 

S. Ashbel Crandall spent his boyhood on 
the farm, and his early education was acquired 
in the district school. When eighteen years 
old, he engaged in school teaching, and after- 
ward followed that calling until he was twenty- 
live. Shortly after, he began to read law in 
Iowa City, la., at the State University, from 
which he was graduated in 1878. In the fol- 
lowing year he was admitted to the bar at 
Norwich, and immediately engaged in prac- 
tice. His career as a lawyer has been at- 
tended with marked and well-deserved success. 
In 1880, on the Democratic ticket, he was 
elected as Representative to the lower house 
oi the State legislature from Ledyard. From 



1888 to 1S92 he was .Mayor of Norwich, and 
from 1S93 to 1895 he was a State Senator and 
City Attorney. He has also been a member 
of the Board of Education six years. He is 
Judge Advocate and a member of Brigadier- 
general Haven's staff, with the rank ol Major. 
Fraternally, he is a Master Mason, a Past 
Grand Conductor in the Grand Lodge of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a Knight 
of Pythias, a member of the Improved Order 
of Red Men, ami a Forester. 



On April 



Oi 



I 88: 



Mr. Crandall was 



joined in marriage with Miss Jane F. Stod- 
dard, of Ledyard, a daughter of Sanford B. 
arid Mary Stoddard, both of whom an- now 
deceased. She died June 18, 1885, when 
thirty-four years of age, leaving two children. 
The latter are: Mary S., twelve years old; 
and Billings F. S., eleven years old. For the 
past seven years Mr. Crandall has made his 
home in the Wauregan House. 




RRIN F. HARRIS, M.D., a popu- 
lar physician of Norwich, is a native 
and a resident of Preston. He was 
born May 31, 1843, son of Robert P. and 
Betsey (Brewster) Harris. The father, who 
died in 1863, about fifty-six years of age, was 
a cabinet-maker of Preston and a man of solid 
worth. His wife, who was the daughter of 
Erastus Brewster and a sister of Augustus and 
Frank Brewster, survived until 18115, and at- 
tained the age of eighty years. Besides 
Orrin F. she had three other children. 
Charles R. Harris, the eldest, who died in 
Hoboken, N.J., in [896, aged sixty-two yi 
was a mariner, and, though modest and retir- 
ing, was a man of merit and of influence. He 
left a widow and two sons. Lucretia Harris 
is now Mrs. Elias M. Brewster, of Norwich. 
George H., now residing in Preston, was tor 



3 ' - 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



years the agent of the Norwich & Worcester 
Transportation Company in Norwich. 

Orrin F. Harris, the youngest child of his 
parents, received his elementary education in 
the common schools. Subsequently he en- 
tered the medical department of Columbia 
College. Believing that he could be of ser- 
vice to his country and at the same time gain 
valuable experience, he volunteered in 1862 
in the medical department of the army, and 
was appointed to the hospital at Alexandria 
under General Surgeon Edward Bentley, a 
personal friend. After the war Dr. Harris 
returned to Columbia to complete his medical 
studies, and graduated in 1865. He began 
practice in Norwich, opening his present office 
in March, 1865. He has well earned his rep- 
utation of a skilful and conscientious phy- 
sician. 

The Doctor was married in August, 1890, 
to Mary A., daughter of Daniel \V. and Sarah 
(Woodward) Tracy, of Preston. The cere- 
mony was performed in a house that he had 
previously erected in Preston, and which has 
since been the family residence. Besides a 
little son, the Doctor and his wife have been 
bereft of twin boys, who lived but a few 
hours. They have one infant son, Orrin F., 
who is the object of their tenderest care and 
affection. Essentially a domestic man, the 
Doctor is devotedly attached to his home and 
family. His greatest pleasure in life is to 
return home after a tiresome day, and enjoy 
the epiiet rest of his own fireside and the com- 
panionship of his home circle and family 
friends. In politics lie is a loyal Republican, 
but he has never cared to hold public office. 
During the years of the anti-slavery agitation 
he was an abolitionist. The estate upon 
which Dr. Harris resides comprises about one 
hundred and twenty acres of good land. On 
it is a peach orchard of fifteen hundred trees, 



recently set out, which promises to become 
one of the finest orchards of the kind in this 
section of the State. Dr. Harris relies more 
on nature than on drugs, and is never afraid 
to prescribe in accordance with this principle. 




HOMAS O. THOMPSON, a well- 
known insurance dealer in New Lon- 
don, was born in New York City, 
April 14, 1S64, son of Francis and Adelaide 
(Owen) Thompson. Alexander, the paternal 
grandfather, emigrated from Ballantragh, 
Londonderry, in the north of Ireland, in 18 10, 
bringing his wife and children. He was a 
wealthy retired sea captain, who subsequently 
engaged as a shipping merchant. His first 
marriage was contracted with Ann Corscod- 
den, who died June 12, 1809, leaving two of 
her four children. In February, 1810, he 
married Margaret Burney, of New York, who 
had ten children. She died October 30, 
1838, leaving eight children. He reared ten 
of his fourteen children, and three of his 
daughters are still living. 

Francis Thompson, son of Alexander, was a 
wholesale hardware merchant of the firm A. R. 
Van Ness & Co., one of the largest concerns of 
the city at that time. He married Adelaide 
Owen in New York City, June 1, 1847, and 
they had six children — Adelaide M., Eliza- 
beth O., Carrie N., Francis G. A., Thomas 
O., and Mary N. Adelaide was twice mar- 
ried, the first time to Lieutenant Commodore 
Walter Abbott, of the United States navy. 
She is now the widow of Dr. H. C. Nelson. 
Elizabeth O. married Captain J. E. Sawyer, 
of the United States army. Carrie N. is the 
wife of Edwin Van Hornstein, who is a Major 
in the German army at Strasburg. Francis 
G. A. is in Chicago, 111. Mary N. is the 
wife of Dallas Goodwin, of New York City. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



3i3 



The father died January 1, 1869, and the 
mother, at the age oi fifty-three, in 1SS0, hav- 
ing survived her husband eleven years. She 
was a daughter of Thomas Owen, of this city. 
Her grandfather, John Owen, was the first 
City Clerk in New London, and filled that 
office from [784 to 1S24, a period of forty 
years. Previously he was a successful teacher 
for main' years, and was familiarly known as 
Mastei Owen. lie was married three times, 
and became the lather of eighteen children, 

vhom Thomas was the youngest. 

rhomas O. Thompson was a student in the 
schools oi Heidelberg and Baden-Baden, Ger- 
many, from the time he was nine years oi age 
until [880, when he came to New London, 
lie has served in the militia for fifteen years, 
being promoted from the rank of private to 
that oi Captain. In politics he affiliates with 
the Republican party. On March 26, [888, 
lie married Jeanette Allender in New York 
City. Her parents, William and Mrs. (Gar- 
Al lender, who married young, subse- 
quently went to the diamond mines near Cape 
Town, Smith Africa, where the father was em- 
ployed in civil engineering, leaving her and 
her brother William in New London to he ed- 
ucated. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have one 
sun. Thomas O., yet a babe. They reside at 
1 Nathan Male Street, where Mr. Thompson 
built his line house on Post 1 1 ill in 1892. 
Personally, Mr. Thompson is pleasant and re- 
fined, and stands high in the social and com- 
mercial circles of New London. 




DWIN A. ROATH, a highly respi 

citizen of Norwich, living in retire- 
ment at 20 Spalding Street, was 

on Union Street, this city, November 
2, [823. Asa Roath, his father, was born 
March 3, 1790, on Roath Street, Norwich, in 



the old Roath house, which was erected by a 
member of the family over two hundred years 
ago, and which is now the property of the sub- 
ject nf this sketch. Eleazer Roath. the father 
ot Asa and a son oi Stephen, was born in the 
same house in 1747, and died in 1835. lie 
was a farmer, and owned a Large anil valuable 
estate, a portion of which is still in the fam- 
ily, lie married Hannah Killam. of Nor- 
wich, who bore him bun- sons and lour daugh- 
ters. OI these, three sons and three daughters 
lived to a good age. Stephen Roath died in 
1808, at an advanced age, leaving considera- 
ble property. Robert Roath, a native of 
England and the first to settle in America, 
came here about the year 1640. and estab- 
lished a home on Plain Hill 01 Wawacus Hill, 
Norwich, a portion of a grant el land received 
from the town proprietors. According to 
family tradition these early ancestors were 
men of magnificent physique, some of them 
standing six feet or more in height. 

Asa Roath, who was five feet, eleven and 
one-half inches tall, and weighed about two 
hundred and ninety pounds, was a Colonel in 
the State militia. In the War of [812 he 
served in the defence oi New London. In 
1820 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Allyn, 
of Groton, now Ledyard, Conn., where her 
birth occurred in May, 1799. She was a 
daughter of General Billings Allyn. Nine 
children were the fruit of their union, as fol- 
lows: Edwin and Ann. both of whom died in 
childhood, el scarlet lever, within a very short 
period; Edwin A.; Hannah, the widow of 
Ruphus Leeds Fanning, who died in middle 
age; Stephen, who resides in Chicago. 111.; 
Elizabeth, the widow oi David M. Randall, 
now living on Franklin Street. Norwich, and 
who has one daughter; Louis Phillip, named 
by his aunt, Mary Allyn Clarke, whose hus- 
band was the captain oi a merchantman, re- 



3 1 4 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



siding in Norwich; Ann Meach, who was the 
wife of Henry L. Parker, resided at 431 
Franklin Street, Norwich, and who died in 
the fall of 1894, aged fifty-eight years, leav- 
ing two sons and three daughters; and Hen- 
rietta Louisa, who died in infancy. The 
lather died March 11, 1846, when fifty-six 
years of age, and the mother on May 20, 
1859, aged sixty years. 

Edwin A. Roath was graduated from Nor- 
wich Academy when eighteen years of age. 
Soon after he began his business career in the 
Norwich & Worcester Railroad, covering a 
period of over fifty years. For twenty-four 
years of that time he was an engineer and for 
twenty-one years a station agent. He ran a 
special train into Boston at the time of the 
dedication of Bunker Hill Monument. His 
present home, where he has lived since Janu- 
ary, 1870, was purchased by him in 1868. 
He also owns two other places on North Main 
Street, built in 1839, tnat were formerly 
owned by his father; also his grandfather's 
place on Roath Street, which was built about 
two centuries ago, a home in which the red 
man always received kindly treatment, and 
from which he was never turned away. 

()n February 21, 1849, Mr. Roath was 
united in marriage with Miss Frances M. 
Rathbone, of Norwich. They have had two 
sons, namely: Francis Edwin, who died when 
but two years old; and Frank Allyn Roath. 
The latter, who resides on Otis Street, Nor- 
wich, is the purser of the steamer "City of 
Worcester," which runs between New London 
and New York City. On June 28, 1894, he 
was married to Miss Gertrude Hakes, of 
Worcester, a very capable business woman, 
who was formerly book-keeper of a large con- 
cern in her native city. In politics Mr. 
Roath is a Democrat, while as a rule he de- 
clines all official honors. 




RS. LYDIA A. KEENEY, of 
New London, the widow of Sam- 
uel C. Keeney, was born here, 
September 25, 181 7, daughter of Josiah and 
Lydia (Lester) Keeney and a grand-daughter 
of Daniel Keeney. The family are an old 
and numerous one, who trace back their an- 
cestry in this section for two hundred years. 
The early ancestor, John Keeney, occupied 
the front part of the Alfred Mitchell man- 
sion, where he reared his family. The house 
is undoubtedly one hundred and fifty years 
old. Among the descendants who were born 
in this house were Mrs. Keeney and her hus- 
band, and they were second cousins. 

Josiah Keeney, the father of Mrs. Keeney, 
died in April, 1817, before she was born, 
leaving a widow, two sons and two daughters. 
The widow was again married to her hus- 
band's brother, Richard, by whom she also 
had two sons and two daughters. After sur- 
viving her second husband, she died in Ches- 
terfield, Conn., in August, 18S1, in her 
eighty-ninth year. Two children by the sec- 
ond marriage still survive, namely: Erastus 
Keeney, of this city; and the widow Fox, of 
Chesterfield. 

Mrs. Keeney was twice married. Her first 
husband, to whom she was united in 1836, 
was Harris Lewis, of this city. He lived but 
four years thereafter, dying at the age of 
thirty-one. Mrs. Lewis had one child by 
him, Harry, who was born after the father's 
death. He died at the age of three years. 
In 1S43 she was married to Mr. Keeney, by 
whom she became the mother of seven chil- 
dren, the youngest of whom died in infancy. 
The survivors are: Joseph Keeney, of Wash- 
ington, D.C., who is married; Harriet, who 
married George H. Johnson, of Brooklyn, 
N.Y. ; Emma J., the wife of Charles Burdell, 
of New Haven, Conn. ; Ulyssus, a single 



BIOGRAPHICAL KKVIKW 



3 IS 



gentleman, living at home with his mother: 
Hiram IF., of this city; and Lilian, who mar- 
ried Charles Tarbox, a blacking manufacturer 
oi this city. Mrs. Keeney has lour grand- 
children. 

Samuel C. Keeney, a former resident of 
this city, was horn here in 1813, son of Giles 
and Theresa (Chappell) Keeney and grandson 
of John Keener, of this place. His father 
and grandfather were fishermen. His parents 
had seven children, only two of whom are 
now living. These are: Captain John, who 
is eighty-four years of age; and his sister, 
Caroline, now Mrs. Samuel Lester, who lives 
on Shelter Island, New York. Samuel C. 
Keeney shipped on a merchantman in early 
life, and went to foreign countries. Having 
begun as a common sailor, he was the captain 
fishing-smack at the age of eighteen. He 
was also engaged in wrecking off the coast of 
Florida, making and losing a great ileal of 
money thereby. When he died in 18S7, at 
the age of seventy-four, he left his widow 
with a comfortable competency. She sold 
her house on Blinman Street, and built a 
smaller one, 92 Willetts Avenue, in 1888. 



B 



AVID A. NORRIS, a retired com- 
mercial traveller of Norwich, liv- 
ing at Yantic, was born in Hanover, 
Morris County, N.J., November 8, 1826, son 
of David and Joanna (Burnet) Norris. The 
father, who was born in I/Qi, was a black- 
smith, and followed his trade in Whippany 
until he was sixty-five years of age. Then he 
removed to Bridgeport, Conn., where he died 
at the age of seventy-five. A whole-souled, 
benevolent man, he seldom lost an oppor- 
tunity to do a kindness for a neighbor or 
friend. As a workman he was skilled in all 
parts of his craft, anil could match his work 



with that of any other man in the trade. His 
wife, Joanna, who was a daughter of a K 
lutionary soldier, born in 1S01, died in New 
Haven, at the age of seventy-five years. 

David A. Norris received a common-school 
education, and when fourteen years of age 
11 to learn the blacksmith's trade in his 
lather's shop. When eighteen years old he 
came to Bridgeport, this State, and there re- 
mained for six years, working as a blacksmith. 
He then learned to make wagon springs, and 
followed that trade in Bridgeport for four 
years. In 1856 he went to Greenville, and 
entered the employ of the Mowrey Spring 
and Axle Company. For nearly twenty years 
he had charge of their shop. At the end of 
that time the constant confinement of indoor 
labor had so affected his health that he felt 
the need of a protracted rest and change. He 
therefore went to Suffolk, \'a., and rusticated 
on a farm there for a year, from Christmas to 
Christmas, living as much as possible in the 
open air, and going about minus hat and 
shoes. In this way he regained his health, 
and at the end of the year was able to take a 
position as travelling agent for enamelled 
ware. He travelled in the interests of this 
business, from Portland, Me., to Portland, 
Ore., and from British Columbia to the Gulf 
of Mexico, covering forty-six States and Terri- 
tories. In the course of these journeyings he 
became familiar with all sorts and conditions 
of men, and gained a wide experience of hu- 
man nature. He also gained extensive in- 
formation on a variety oJ subjects, and is 
to-day one of the best informed men a traveller 
is likely to encounter. In 1S95 Mr. Norris 
ed from active business, having been at- 
tacked with rheumatism, which at times made 
it impossible for him to prosecute his work. 
The value of his services t" the firm for which 
he travelled, and their appreciation of his 



316 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



worth, may be inferred from the fact that on 
this occasion they settled on him a comfort- 
able annuity for the rest of his life. 

In the spring of 18S7 Mr. Norris bought 
the forty-acre farm which is his present home; 
and he now spends his time in outdoor pur- 
suits — hunting, fishing, or driving. He has 
a fine horse and a handsome Gordon setter, 
which are his companions on many a pleasant 
excursion. The fishing-rod, in the use of 
which he is an expert, whiles away many an 
hour. Mr. Norris is a very genial man and, 
on account of his wide knowledge, at all 
times a most interesting and instructive com- 
panion. He is not a member of any religious 
organization; but, appreciating the value of 
Christian benevolence, he delights in making 
generous contributions to a worthy cause. 
He voted for John C. Fremont in 1856, and 
has ever since been a stanch Republican. 
Since 1873 he has been a Master Mason. He 
has been twice married. On the first occa- 
sion, in 1848, he wedded Sarah A. Seeley, of 
Bridgeport, Conn. She became the mother 
of a daughter, Hattie S., who was born in 
1850. Mrs. Sarah Norris died in 1864, at 
the age of thirty -one. On May 24, 1865,- Mr. 
Norris entered his second marriage with Mrs. 
Mary E. Prentice, the widow of Leonard 
Prentice and a daughter of Harlan Hyde, of 
the distinguished Hyde family, of which a fine 
genealogy has been published. There are no 
children by this marriage. 



M 



AVID C. MANWARING, a retired 
sea captain of Niantic, Conn., was 
born in blast Lyme, a mile from 
this village, on the 15th of September, 1812, 
son of Latham and Emily (Manwaring) Man- 
waring. The family to which he belongs is 
an old one in this county, Oliver Manwaring 



having settled at New London about 1663. 
From Mrs. Frances M. Calkins's History we 
learn that a Thomas Manwaring, thought to 
have been a nephew of Oliver, married in 1722 
Esther Christophers, and is the ancestor of the 
Lyme branch of the Manwarings. 

Captain Manwaring's father followed the 
sea during the greater part of his active life, 
and was first mate in a coasting-vessel. His 
wife was the daughter of an older Latham 
Manwaring, so that by singular coincidence 
her husband and father bore the same names. 
Captain Manwaring's father died in 1842, at 
the age of sixty years, having been born dur- 
ing the Revolutionary War. His wife sur- 
vived him a few years, and died at about the 
same age. Their children, of whom there were 
five, married and scattered. Some are dead; 
and one sun, Nehemiah, was buried at sea. 
The only survivors are Captain Manwaring 
and his sister Abbie, widow of William Da- 
vidson. 

During three months of the year David C. 
Manwaring, until he was twelve years old, 
attended the district school. At the age of 
fourteen he went as cook on a fishing-smack 
alongshore, and at twenty he began to go on 
deep-sea voyages South as a sailor. At the 
age of twenty-six he was captain of the sloop 
" Trojan," in which he sailed for eight years, 
engaged in fishing for mackerel, sea bass, and 
halibut alongshore. He then became master 
of a fishing-sloop. William Chester built 
her, and sailed in her for seven years. After 
that he was in the schooner " North Amer- 
ica " for two years, until the 17th of August, 
1864, when she was sunk by the privateer 
" Tallahassee," on Brown's Bank, off the coast 
of Nova Scotia, with a full load of halibut. 
She was owned by Messrs. Charles S. How- 
ard, Edwin Howard, Daniel Howard, and 
Daniel Howard, Jr. The " Tallahassee " ap- 




Mr. am. Mrs. Ii.W'II) C. MANWARING 



BIOCk.U'HICAL REVIEW 



3'9 



propriated the papers of the " North Amer- 
ica," together with her quadrant, charts, fish- 
gear, and so forth, ami then sunk her forty 
miles nit shore. The captain and his crew of 
si\ men were kept prisoners lor seven limns, 
ami were then put on board of a brig. The 
sloop was valued at four thousand five hundred 
and seventy dollars, ami was paid for some 
seventeen years later. 

( >n September 14, [836, the day before his 
twenty-fourth anniversary, Captain Manwaring 
married Frances Sands Clark, who was born 
mi Block Island, November 5, 1816. Their 
only child, a son, Charles Henry Manwaring, 
died at the age of two years and a half. Cap- 
tain and Mrs. Manwaring have lived at their 
pleasant home at 104 Main Street, Niantic, 
lor the last forty-nine years. When the Cap- 
tain was away on a voyage, Mrs. Manwaring 
lit a lot of land, and, before her hus- 
band's return, had had a house built, and was 
fairly settled in it. 

In politics the Captain has always been a 
Democrat, lie belongs to no secret order or 
society; and, when at home between his sea 
voyages, his time was spent in the companion- 
ship of his family anil by his own fireside. 
He retired from following the sea some six- 
teen years ago, and during the last three 
i has especially devoted himself to caring 
for his wife, who is in failing; health. 




, 



iHARLES HENRY SCHWANER, 

a successful marketman, who has 
carried on his business in New 
London for a score of years, was born March 
3, 1849, in Germany, son of Frederick 

Sch waner. Having lost his parents while 
yet very young, his childhood was spent in 
Brooklyn, X.Y., among strangers. He first 
came to New London in 1866. After a three 



years' stay he went to Hartford, and there at 
the age of twenty-one years started in the 
market business. After conducting it for ten 
years in that place, he came in 1X76 to New 
London, and engaged in the same line of 
business, beginning on Bank Street. Two 
years later he sold out anil opened his present 
market at 46 Main Street, where he has built 
up a large trade, employs six men, and has 
one of the finest markets in the city. Al- 
though he started in life without capital, he 
now owns valuable property, and is looked 
upon as one of the most worthy and substan- 
tial business men of the city. 

In 1872 Mr. Schwaner was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Carrie Louisa Saunders, a na- 
tive of Germany, who came to this country 
with her parents when a child. After her 
father's death, which occurred a few years 
later, her mother married Frederick Heine. 
The latter is now dead, and the widow resides 
in Hartford. She is the mother of two sons 
ami four daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Schwaner 
lost a son when he was eighteen months old. 
They have four sons and a daughter living, 
namely: Fred, a bright, young man, in busi- 
ness with his father in the market; May, 
Harry, Alfred, and Stanley, all of whom, ex- 
cept May, are still attending school. Mr. 
Schwaner casts his vote with the Republican 
party, but does not participate further in poli- 
tics. He is a member of the Knights Tem- 
plar, the Odd Fellows, and the Patriai 
Militant. 



TTAAI TAIN JOHN L. WARD, of New 

I J] London, an aged seafarer, who fol- 
V J 8 ^ lowed his calling until his eightieth 
year, was born in New London, Conn., No- 
vember 27, 18 1 5, son of John and Eliza 
(Beers) Ward. The father, who was a native 



320 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



of Liverpool, England, born in the year 1780, 
after serving his country as a sailor on a man- 
of-war, came to New London about 181 2. 
His marriage with Eliza Beers, who was a 
native of Waterford, New London County, 
took place in either that year or the next. 
Three sons and three daughters were born to 
them, all of whom grew to maturity, namely: 
Ann Ward, who died about 1866; John L., 
the subject of this sketch; Abbie, the widow 
of Alonzo Lewis, now living in New London; 
William Ward, a sailor and ship officer, who 
was lost at sea when twenty-four years old; 
Captain Joseph Ward, unmarried, who died 
on shipboard, aged forty-five, and was buried 
at sea; and Lydia, who married James Perry, 
and who, together with her husband and chil- 
dren, is now deceased. The father died in 
1825, aged forty-five. The mother, who sur- 
vived him twelve years, passed away in 1837, 
at the age of fifty-two years. 

John L. Ward, the eldest son and second 
child of his parents, received only a limited 
schooling. When seventeen years of age he 
went to sea with Captain Frank Smith. 
Climbing step by step from the lowest round 
of the ladder, he became a captain at twenty- 
four. His early voyages were made on whal- 
ing-vessels to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. 
His longest voyage, which was undertaken 
shortly after his marriage, was to the Arctic 
Ocean, where he spent three years. He has 
been master and part owner in five different 
vessels. 1 le made forty voyages to the West 
Indies. For five years he was captain of a 
merchantman. In 1849 he went to Califor- 
nia, taking his wife with him, and was away 
two years on that trip, during which time he 
visited the Sandwich Islands. Afterward he 
made a second trip alone to California, going 
this time by the Isthmus of Panama. After 
spending fourteen years in the government 



employ, he lost his position when the Demo- 
crats came into power. About two years ago 
he retired from the sea, which he had fol- 
lowed all together for nearly forty years. It 
is claimed that he is the oldest seaman in New 
London, while it is admitted that his old 
shipmate, Captain Green, is about the same 
age, and has been a mariner for almost as 
long a period. 

On April 27, 1840, Captain Ward married 
Miss Anna Fage, a daughter of John Fage, of 
Norwich, Conn. She died in 1S84, aged 
seventy-two, leaving two daughters. Their 
third child, a daughter, died in infancy. 
Since Mrs. Ward's death, Flora Smith Ward 
has kept house for her father. Sarah, the 
other daughter, is the wife of Captain James 
F. Smith, of this city. Captain Ward has 
been a Master Mason for fifty-one years. 
While engaged in seafaring he visited lodges 
of the brethren in England, France, and other 
countries. He also belongs to the sailors' 
organization, the Jib-boom Club. His resi- 
dence is the house, 15 Meridian Street, which 
he purchased in 1856. 



Xf REUERICK P. LADD, of Salem, 
P s born in Franklin, Conn., March 30, 
1827, is the eldest son of Asa Spalding 
and Harriet (Carey) Ladd. In the History of 
Hampshire, England, one William Ladd is 
mentioned as juryman in 1294, during the 
reign of Edward I., and the History of Sur- 
rey has a record of the fact that in 1325 Ed- 
ward II. bought the manor of Heale from 
Walter de Heale, of which Walter Ladd was 
the custodian. The Ladds came to England 
in the following of William the Conqueror. 
A grant of some one thousand, three hundred 
and forty-four acres was made or transferred 
to Walter Ladd, mentioned above. The name 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



I !l 



was formerly spelled Lade, and afterward 
Lad, but was changed to its present form by 
John I. add. who was a membei of the British 
Parliament for Southwark in Surrey from 1713 
to 1722, and was created a baronet in 1740. 
The first of the family to settle in America 
was Daniel Ladd, of Haverhill, Mass., who 
came from County Kent, England, in the 
prime of his youth, in 1633-4, on the ship 
"Maty and John." (See the Ladd Gene- 
v.) 
The records of Ipswich, Mass., show that 
Daniel Ladd, on the 5th day of February, 
. was granted six acres of land, that he 
subsequently built a dwelling thereon, and 
lived in it for eleven years. He is described 
as "a typical pioneer and frontiersman, labor- 
ing for sixty years, trusting in God, and fear- 
in- nothing." Festus Ladd, the grandfather 
of Frederick P., born in Franklin, February 
2 5> 1 77*'>'< descended in a direct line from 
Daniel through Jonathan, Daniel, Samuel, 
Jonathan, Jeremiah, David, and Abner. 
Festus died in Franklin in 1848, aged 
seventy-two. His wife, Ruby Ladd, who was 
born in 17S2, daughter of Ezekiel Ladd, was 
her husband's cousin. She lived many years 
in widowhood, and died in 1861. She had 
three sons and six daughters. Asa Spalding 
Ladd, son of Festus and Ruby Ladd, was a 
farmer in Franklin, in Norwich, and Salem, 
and died in the last-named place in 1875, at 
the age of seventy-two. His widow died in 
1894, at the age of eighty-live. Of their 
twelve children one died in infancy. Seven 
married, and four sons and two daughters had 
children. One of the sons, Austin N., was a 
volunteer in the Civil War with the First 
Minnesota Regiment, and was the third man in 
the regiment to fall at the first Hull Run, hav- 
ing been shot through the body. He was a 
fine scholar, and he held a high rank in the 



Masonic order. He was taken from Libby 
Prison by a brother Mason, Vice-Presi- 
dent Stephens, and was cared for until his 
death. 

Frederick P. Ladd left school when four- 
teen years old. In his sixteenth year he was 
afflicted with sciatic rheumatism, which 
crippled him and kept him in a semi-invalid 
state for some time. In 1861 he entered 
the employ of the Luce Brothers, and re- 
mained with them for eighteen years, making 
himself generally useful. He was first mar- 
ried at the age of thirty-six. Having lost his 
first wife and only child by death, he married 
again on Thanksgiving Day, in the year 1S75, 
Miss Sarah M. Winchester, of Salem, a 
daughter of Lodowich Winchester. Her only 
child by him is also deceased. They have an 
adopted son, Willie 1*"., a bright boy of seven- 
teen years. Mr. Ladd is a Democrat in poli- 
tics. He has been Constable and Tax Collec- 
tor for the past three years, has served on the 
Board of Relief several times, is now serving 
his fourth year as Justice of the Peace, and 
he represented his district in the legislature 
for one term. Both he and Mrs. Ladd arc- 
Methodists. He has been a trustee of the 
church for nine years. His present farm of 
one hundred well -tilled acres was purchased 
by him some nineteen years ago. Consider- 
ing the misfortunes of his early life, when he 
was crippled, in ill health, and poor, he has 
been remarkably successful in life. 



"fT?)OUIS P. ROATH, a well-known rail- 



Jj{jo; 



road engineer living in retirement in 



Norwich, was born here, December 

25, 1833, son of Asa and Elizabeth (Allyn) 

Roath. The founder ol the family came from 

England about the year 1640, and settled in 

Norwich on a grant of land received by him 



322 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



from the original town proprietors. He 
owned at one time about six hundred acres. 
The house in which he lived is still standing, 
situated about two hundred rods from the 
home of Louis P. Roath. An antique writ- 
ing-desk, which is supposed to have been 
brought by him from England, is in Mr. 
Roath's possession. 

Eleazer Roath, the father of Asa, who was 
born here, spent his mature years in farming 
on the old Roath homestead. After his death 
his daughters — Betsey, Rebecca, and Eunice 
— continued to live in the old house. Bet- 
sey, the last survivor, did not move out until 
the fall of 1866. She died December 31, 
iSSo, aged one hundred years, three months, 
and twenty-seven days, retaining to the last 
full possession of her faculties. Remarkable 
for industry throughout her long life, her 
nimble fingers wove many a carpet on the 
hand carpet loom left there. On her century 
birthday she sat for the first and only picture 
ever taken of her. The chair in which she 
then sat is preserved as an heirloom. Re- 
becca lived to be seventy-five, and Eunice 
seventy-three years of age. 

Asa Roath was born March 3, 1790, and 
died March 11, 1846. In his early years he 
taught school, and subsequently was engaged 
in surveying. A Colonel in the State mili- 
tia, he served among the defenders of New 
London in the War of 1812. For several 
years he was Probate Judge. Although not a 
college graduate, he was intellectual and ac- 
complished, a fine penman, and a most suc- 
cessful instructor. In 1820 he was married 
to Miss Elizabeth Allyn, who was born in 
Groton, Conn., July 2, 1799, daughter of 
General Stephen Billings Allyn. Nine chil- 
dren, four sons and five daughters, blessed the 
union. Of these three died in infancy; Han- 
nah, the widow of Rufus Fanning, died about 



1874, aged forty-seven years, leaving no chil- 
dren; and Ann Meach, the youngest child, 
who was the wife of Henry L. Parker, died in 
Norwich in 1894, aged fifty-eight, leaving 
five children. The survivors are: Edwin A. 
Roath, an esteemed resident of Norwich; 
Stephen B., of Chicago, 111., whither he went 
in 1855, who is an eccentric bachelor, and 
takes pride in being wealthier than any Roath 
of whom he has heard; Elizabeth, the widow 
of Daniel M. Randall, of Norwich; and Louis 
P., the subject of this sketch. The father 
died in 1846, aged fifty-six [years, and the 
mother in 1859, at the age of sixty years. 
Both were buried in the Yantic cemetery, 
while the earlier ancestors rest in the city 
cemetery. 

His school days having ended when he was 
fourteen years old, Louis P. Roath at the age 
of sixteen years was employed on the railroad 
as a fireman. In September, 1850, fifteen 
months later, he was given an engine, which 
he ran until December, 1868. He had fol- 
lowed engineering for eighteen years on the 
Norwich & Worcester Railroad, when, in 
1 868, he entered the shops, and was there em- 
ployed until 1892. In January, 1895, here- 
tired from active labor, and has since lived in 
his modest but pleasant home at 127 Roath 
Street, built by him in 1869, on a plat of 
some eight acres, left by his father to him 
and his brother, Edwin A. Roath. 

On January 21, 1857, Mr. Roath was mar- 
ried to Miss Laura E. Seagrave, of Worces- 
ter, Mass. She is an adopted daughter of 
John D. and Sarah (Earned) Seagrave. The 
former resides in Worcester, where his wile 
died in middle age, having hail no children. 
Mrs. Roath was left an orphan when a small 
child, and was reared and educated by these 
kind foster-parents. She has borne her hus- 
band two children — Clarence P. and Walter. 



Biographical review 



! 



Clarence P., who is a conductor on the Nor- 
wich division of the New England Railroad, 
married Miss Frances E. Andrews, a daughter 
"1 I'. St. M. Andrews, of Norwich, and who 
died August II, 1896; and Walter, an engi- 
neer on the Central Division of the New Eng- 
land Railroad, living in Providence, R.I., 
married Miss Ella F. Burnham, of Scarboro, 
Me., ami has a daughter, Laura L., now 
eleven years old. Mr. Roath, Si\, votes with 
the Democratic party. He is a Master Mason 
and a member of the Brotherhood of Locomo- 
tive Engineers. Both he and Mrs. Roath arc 
members of the Trinity Episcopal Church of 
Norwich. 




S. WATROUS,* a well- 
known retired master mariner of 
H.*' V _ , Mystic. New London County, 
Conn., was bom in the town of Ledyard, this 
county, January 1, 1841, son of Robert Goudy 
.md Lucy Margaret (Cunningham) Watrous. 
The original name of the family was Water- 
hous< . 

Jacob Waterhouse, the earliest progenitor 
in this country, came from England to Say- 
brook, Conn., removing from thence to New 
London, where he was one of the first three 
men. He and his sons helped build the dam 
lor the old town mill. His son Jacob was the 
father of John; and John's son Timothy be- 
came the father of Jabez, the grandfathei ol 
the subject of this sketch. He was born in 
the town of Ledyard, and married Polly 
Goudy, a native of Poquetanuck, in this 
county. They had eleven children. Grand- 
father Watrous died when he was compara- 
tively young, while the grandmother lived to 
be ninety years old. Their son Jabez is now 
living in Groton, being ninety-three years of 
age and the only surviving member of the 
family. 



Robert Goudy Watrous, son of Jabez, Sr., 
was born at the old homestead in Ledyard in 
1S08; and in after life he well remembered 
the battle of Stonington. He was twice mar- 
ried. His first wile, Lucy Margaret Cunning- 
ham, who was born in Norwalk, Conn., in 
[822, dieil at the age of thirty-three, leaving 
four of her six children, only two of whom 
are now living — -Robert S. and John C. 
Watrous. John Cunningham, their maternal 
grandfather, was a soldier in the War ol [8l2j 
and his brother Benjamin served in the Mexi- 
can War, and was wounded. While he was 
in the act of shooting, a ball took away his 
thumb, and came out of his elbow. Ro 
Watrous married Mrs. Esther Crouch Rogers 
lor his second wife. She survived him, liv- 
ing to be an octogenarian. 

Robert S. Watrous was reared on the farm, 
and attended the common school. At the age 
of seventeen he began a sailor's life, which 
he continued to follow, with the exception of 
two and three-fourths years, until 1892, going 
at first in a fishing-smack to the Southern 
coast. He was captain of a vessel for twenty 
years. During the Civil War he enlisted as 
private in the Second United States Artillery, 
serving two years and nine months. On the 
first clay of the battle of Gettysburg he fired 
the first gun, and was wounded in the leg by 
a minie ball and taken prisoner. His leg was 
amputated by a rebel surgeon on the field. 
Being released on parole, he spent three 
months each in Gettysburg, Philadelphia, 
and Baltimore Hospitals, returning home in 
1864. He receives a pension; and he has 
charge of the drawbridge, but does very little 
business. 

On March 24, [869, he married Sarah 
Melinda Woodmancy, ol Groton, d r of 

Denison Woodmancy. Her father died wl 
he was fifty-four years of age, while her 



3 2 4 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



mother is still living at the age of eighty- 
two. Mr. and Mrs. Watrous have three chil- 
dren — Euretta, Sadie, and Robert. Euretta 
married Henry F. Leitz, and lives in Meri- 
den, Conn. Sadie has studied vocal music 
in New York City, where she now sings so- 
prano in one of the leading churches. Robert 
is a young man at home. Mrs. Watrous has 
a brother, Edward Woodmancy, living in 
Noank; and her sister, Mrs. Charles New- 
bury, resides in Mystic. 

Fraternally, Mr. Watrous is serving his 
second year as Commander of Williams Post, 
No. 55, G. A. R. He also belongs to the 
Odd Fellows Lodge and Encampment, and to 
the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a 
Republican. 



TTtHARLES A. BAILEY, the leading 
I Sp horse dealer in New London County, 
V^£__^' was born in Groton, February 20, 
1845. His parents were Captain Ezra and 
Emeline (Turner) Bailey; and his paternal 
grandparents were Ezra Bailey, Sr., and Han- 
nah Bailey, who lived on a farm in Groton, and 
who had two sons, namely, Captain Ezra and 
Captain William Bailey, and one daughter. 
Captain Ezra Bailey was one of the old-time 
Connecticut whalemen, and sailed the ship 
"General Williams." He was drowned in the 
Sound near Saybrook about 1857, in the prime 
of life. His wife was left with two sons — 
Charles A. and Isaac Addison, the last named 
of whom is now in California, where he went 
some nineteen years ago. The mother, Mrs. 
Emeline T. Bailey, lived a widow man)' years, 
and died in March, 1885. 

Mr. Charles A. Bailey began the business 
in which he is now engaged, and in which he 
has made such a wide reputation, in this city. 
He has always been very fond of horses, and 



has always had great success in their manage- 
ment and training. No animal is so balky 
that he cannot control it, and no defect in the 
most highly praised horse and no strong point 
of excellence can escape his practised eye. 
The very wide experience he has had in han- 
dling horses of high and low degree, truck 
horses and those with pedigree yards long, 
has made him one of the best judges, probably 
the best judge, of horse flesh in the State. 
He has bought and sold thousands of animals, 
and every month receives a carload from the 
West. Not only is he a good business man- 
ager and a ready salesman, but he has a gen- 
uine appreciation of all the artistic details 
connected with his business, such as matching 
a fine pair or selecting a handsome saddle 
horse or a gentle and at the same time grace- 
ful and handsome carriage horse for a lady. 
He buys largely in Michigan, and sells in the 
East. Among horsemen he is widely known, 
and his judgment is highly respected. In the 
business community at large he has a reputa- 
tion for honesty and fair dealing, and men 
who know him personally or only from com- 
mon report are never afraid to trust to his 
long experience and to his well-known skill 
when they wish to make a purchase of a new 
horse. He is an unequalled driver, and may 
often be seen behind a finely matched pair of 
steeds, handling the ribbons in a manner 
which shows him absolute master of the situa- 
tion. 

Mr. Bailey was married when twenty-one 
years of age to Sarah Rockwell, of Groton, 
now deceased. Four children were born to 
them, and two survive, namely: Eugene 
Bailey, in New London, who has a wife and 
two sons; and Jennie Bailey. After the death 
of his first wife Mr. Bailey married Nellie 
Conway, of Westerly, R.I. In politics he is 
an Independent. 



RIOGRAIMUCAI. RKVIKW 



327 



TT'tHARLES SPALDING, formerly an 

I Sp esteemed resident of Norwich, was 
V»l£_^-" born in Norwich Town, January 31, 
181 2, son of Luther and grandson of Asa 
Spalding. Asa Spalding, who was horn in 
Canterbury, Conn., in 1757, graduated from 
Yale College in 1779, studied law with Judge 
Adams, of Litchfield, and settled for the prac- 
tice nt his profession in Norwich in [782. 
His native ability and force of character 
formed his only capital ; but they soon enabled 
him to secure clients, and ultimately to build 
up an extensive and lucrative business and 
acquire a considerable fortune. He held vari- 
ous offices of public trust and honor, and at 
his death in 1S11 was one of the most highly 
esteemed as well as one of the richest men in 
Eastern Connecticut. He had a brother, 
Judge Luther Spalding, who' was his junior 
by ten years, and who settled in Norwich for 
the practice of law in 1797. Another brother 
was Dr. Rufus Spalding, a graduate of Yale, 
who practised medicine first in Nantucket 
and subsequently in Norwich, to which he 
came in 181 2, and died in 1830. The three 
brothers were interred in the same burying- 
ground at Norwich. Luther Spalding, above 
named, had one other son besides Charles; 
namely, George, a graduate of Yale College. 

Charles Spalding was first married on June 
6, 1837, to Juliette Hubbard, a daughter of 
Russel Hubbard, of Norwich. Mr. Hubbard 
was a wealthy paper manufacturer. He built 
the house at 161 Broadway, where Mrs. 
Spalding is now residing. This was about 
1825, before any street was laid out: and the 
most of his neighbors thought he was doing an 
unwise thing. The house, which stands on a 
sandy knoll, is now said to have 'me (if the 
finest sites in town. Mrs. Juliette Spalding 
died on April 2, [N65. On June 11, 1874, 
Mr. Spalding was married to Mrs. Amanda 



M. Haviland, whose maiden name was God- 
dard. She was born, reared, and educated in 
Boston. Her first husband was Tlunnas Havi- 
land, a worker in plaster and stucco. Mr. and 
Mrs. Haviland resided in Boston on Chestnut 
Street until the death of the former on April 
20, 1873. Mr. Spalding died July 24, 1885. 
Mrs. Spalding, who survives her husband, 
is the daughter of William and Sarah (Wai 
net) Goddard, of Boston. Mr. Goddard was a 
carpenter ami builder. His house was situ- 
ated where the Boston post-office now stands. 
Beginning life in humble circumstances, he 
devoted himself with energy to whatever busi- 
ness came his way, and in time became a 
wealthy man. At his death he bequeathed 
his estate to his family, making certain pro- 
visions designed for the improvement of the 
property and its retention by his heirs for 
a long period, until it should have greatly 
enhanced in value. Scarcely any of these 
provisions were carried out, however, owing 
to the fact that, much of the real estate being 
situated in the heart of the business district, 
it was early taken by the city at a compara- 
tively small rate of compensation, to make way 
for public improvements. Tarts of it were 
destroyed by fire, and another part was cut into 
by a railroad. The result was that the heirs 
received but a small portion of what would 
otherwise have been theirs had the property 
been allowed to remain intact and increase in 
value. William Goddard died on April 14, 
[860, and is buried in Mount Auburn. Be- 
side him rests his wife, who, after surviving 
him three years, died at the age "I eighty-two 
years and seven months. They were the par- 
ents of nine children, of whom Mrs. Spald- 
ing was tin- youngest and the only sur- 
vivor. Her brother, Thomas Goddard, of the 
firm of Goddard & Dennis, was for many 
years a well-known carriage manufacturer of 



328 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIFAV 




Boston. An interesting Memorial of the 
Spalding Family, written by Samuel J. Spald- 
ing, was published in Boston by Alfred Mudge 
& Son in 1872. 

«-«•«-* ■ 

MOS B. TILLOTSON, a prosperous 
farmer of Salem, was born at Grassy 
Hill, near his present residence, 
September 9, 1823, son of William M. and 
Deborah (Huntley) Tillotson. The paternal 
grandfather was Dr. George Tillotson, a de- 
scendant of a wealthy English family. He 
had three sons and five daughters, all of whom 
married and lived to an advanced age. He 
was a botanic physician, and practised very 
successfully, being especially noted for his 
skill in cases of poison from snake bites. It 
was his habit to visit his patients on horse- 
back, with his saddle-bags hanging on either 
side. William M. Tillotson was born in 
Lyme in 1784, and died in 1835. He saw 
military service in the War of 18 12, and sub- 
sequently received a pension on account of in- 
juries received in the war. He married Deb- 
orah Huntley, daughter of Elihu Huntley, a 
farmer of Lyme. They had seven children, 
namely: Ira, who was born about 1809, and 
died at the age of fifty-seven years, leaving a 
widow; Joanna, who married Jabez Bogue, 
and died in early womanhood, leaving two 
children; Julia, who became the wife of Al- 
bert Chapel], and died in May, 1894, at the 
age of eighty-one, and of whose four children 
three are now living; Harlow, a stage propri- 
etor, who died in 1849, unmarried; Amos B., 
the subject of this sketch; Franklin, who 
married, had one child that died in infancy, 
and who himself died in Waterford, at the age 
of twenty-two years; and a son who died in in- 
fancy. The mother passed away at the home 
of her son Amos in 1S80. 

Amos B. Tillotson, after pursuing his 



school studies for the ordinary period, took up 
farming, in which occupation he has since 
continued. He is the owner of a good farm 
in Salem, containing three hundred and fifty- 
five acres, which he purchased in April, 1881, 
and on which he is engaged in mixed husban- 
dry. The appearance of his estate gives evi- 
dence of prosperity and comfort. He is inde- 
pendent in politics, and has neither sought 
nor held office. December 3, 1865, he mar- 
ried Frances A. Bailey, daughter of Lyman 
and Betsey (Irish) Bailey, well-to-do farming 
people of Preston, both parents, however, 
being natives of Ledyard. Of Mrs. Ti Hot- 
son's four brothers and three sisters, all are 
living except Albert M. Bailey, formerly a 
police officer in Providence, R. I., who died at 
the age of thirty-three years, leaving a wife 
but no children. 

Mr. and Mrs. Tillotson's only child, Bessie, 
died April 21, 1884, at the age of sixteen 
years, just as she was blossoming into a per- 
fect womanhood. She was an affectionate 
daughter, beautiful and talented, and an earn- 
est Christian in heart and life, and was ad- 
mired by all who knew her. Her death was 
the occasion of some sincere tributes in verse, 
expressing the estimate in which she was held 
by her friends. We reprint the following, by 
S. D. Phelps, which was published in the 
Christian Secretary : — 

MEMORIAL OF AN ONLY DAUGHTER. 

BY S. D. PHELPS. 

Playful darling, blooming maiden, 

Bessie was our only child, 
Dearly loved and beauty-laden — 
Heaven upon our home had smiled. 
Loving eyes were often glancing 
On her winning ways entrancing. 
Toward maturing years advancing. 

Who parental love can measure, 
Tell its strength, its reaches know ? 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 






Who can estimate the tri 

Which the heart's affections show ? 
When the tie by death is broken, 
When fades out love's sweetest token, 

Can the sorrow e'er be spoken? 

I ,i i\ elj Bessie ! fondly ( hi i ish 

How our hearts around thee twined ! 

Brightest hopes in thee have perished, 

All the world seems dumb and blind! 

N ight upon out souls is falling, 

Deep to solemn deep is calling, 

Ah! the gloom is dread, appalling! 

Saviour, lift the cloud of sadness. 
Show us thy dear face divine; 
Bring our hearts a ray of gladness. 
O'er them let thy pity shine. 
Sure, the soul that deeplj grieveth, 
Comfort sweet and calm receiveth, 
As thy promise it believeth. 

i ing gently at the border. 
While no fear her spirit vexed. 

Bessie spoke her love's true order: 

1 Ji us first and parents next." 

I arewells given, forth she ventured. 
All her hopes in Jesus centred, 
As within the veil she entered. 

Passing through the heavenly portal, 

Fading from our earthly sight. 
She has found a home immortal, 
In the world of life and light : 
I'll Eon ver tears and sighing; 
Blessed i hange, from pain and dving. 
Endless bliss the soul supplying. 

There, amid celestial splendors. 

Angel hosts and ransomed throngs, 
Praises to the Lamb she renders. 
Joining in those glorious songs. 

There she waits for us to meet her. 
When with rapture we shall greet her; 
( >h. what thought or hope is sweeter? 

Lord, we trust thee: thou art gracious; 

Thou didst give the jewel fail ; 
i ih. to us how bright and prei ii 
And to thee what treasure rare ! 

Ours and thine. Lord, thou hast taken; 
We're bereaved, but not forsaken ; 
Ibr from sleep thy voice shall waken. 



AMES WILSON BIXLER, A.M., 
B.D., the pastor of the Second Con- 
gregational Church of New London, 
was born in Hanover, York County, Pa., Feb- 
ruary 28, 1S61. A son of David 1). and Al- 
mira (Wilson) Bixler, he conns of German 
and Swiss descent. David Bixler, his grand- 
father, born in Hanover, Pa., in 1798, was .1 
son of Peter Bixler, of Carroll County, Mary- 
land. A merchant in trade in Hanover for 
a number of years, David acquired a com- 
petency, and left a good estate at his death, 
which occurred in Hanover in 1873, when lie 
was seventy-five years old. Active- in local 
affairs, he served in a number of public 
offices. He married Susan Long, of Hanover. 
She was a daughter of Samuel Long, who was 
one of the Revolutionary soldiers who experi- 
enced the hardships of Valley Forge. Mrs. 
Susan Bixler lived to be ninety-one years of 
age, dying in 1891. She rests with her hus- 
band in the cemetery at Hanover. They were 
members of the Lutheran church. Of the six 
children reared by them, three daughters and 
three sons, four are living to-day. 

David D. Bixler was born in Hanover in 
1830. After spending some time in business 
with his father, he became the hitter's suc- 
cessor, and is still conducting a store there. 
IK- married Almira Wilson, of York, Pa., a 
daughter of John A. and Rachel (Mantle) 
Wilson. The Wilsons are of Scotch-Irish 
origin. Mrs. Almira Bixler's paternal grand- 
father, who was a native of the north of Ire- 
land, was educated for the Presbyterian min- 
istry, and for a number of years was the 
pastor of a church in York County, Pennsyl- 
vania. A close student, gifted with literary 
tah-nt, he was the author of a number ol 
books. John A. Wilson was also educated for 
the ministry, but his health was too uncertain 
to allow of his assuming pastoral duties. II 



33o 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



found employment as a scrivener, and was for 
a number of years clerk of the York County 
courts. His wife died in February, 1896. 
She was the mother of four children, namely: 
James Wilson, the subject of this sketch; 
Samuel Lincoln and Charles Saxton, who are 
in business with their father, the firm name 
being D. D. Bixler & Sons; and David Her- 
vey Bixler, who graduated from Amherst Col- 
lege in the class of 1896, and is now in the 
employ of the Vermont Marble Company at 
Proctor, Vt. Samuel L. Bixler has a wife and 
one son. 

James Wilson Bixler attended school in 
Williamsport, Pa., and graduated from Am- 
herst in 1882, an honor man and one of the 
class officers, with a class of sixty-five. In 
that college he took several prizes for a 
scholarship, and received the degree of Master 
of Arts. He then took a divinity course at 
Yale, spending the fourth year in fellowship. 
From Yale he received the degree of Bache- 
lor of Divinity. After finishing his college 
course, he travelled and studied in Germany 
for a year, and then for a year was assistant 
to Dr. George L. Walker, the pastor of the 
First Church in Hartford, Conn. He was or- 
dained in October, 1889, and installed as pas- 
tor of the North Congregational Church in 
Haverhill, Mass. This pastorate he resigned 
in 1891 to take charge of the Second Congre- 
gational Church in New London, which so- 
ciety, formed in 1836, is one of the oldest 
and wealthiest religious organizations in the 
city, and has a membership numbering over 
five hundred. The church edifice is a granite 
structure, erected in 1870, with richly colored 
stained glass windows and a fine granite 
spire. The music is rendered by an accom- 
plished organist and a cultured quartette. 
This church requires a scholarly and eloquent 
pastor, and Mr. Bixler has acceptably filled the 



pulpit for five years. The pastoral residence, 
which is a very beautiful one, was built and 
endowed by Mrs. M. S. Harris, in memory of 
her deceased husband, the Hon. J. N. Harris, 
who was a Deacon of the church. Church, 
chapel, and parsonage, together, cost over one 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 

Mr. Bixler was married in Amherst, Au- 
gust 4, 1891, to Elizabeth James, a daughter 
of President Julius H. Seelye, of Amherst 
College. She was a Smith College student 
and an accomplished pianist. She died April 
10, 1894, leaving one son, Julius Seelye 
Bixler, who was born April 4, 1894. Mr. 
Bixler is a member of the Psi Upsilon fra- 
ternity, of Amherst, and is one of the over- 
seers of the charity fund of that college. He 
is a trustee of the Smith Memorial Home, 
which was founded and richly endowed by the 
late Dr. Seth Smith. In 1897 he was elected 
a corporate member of the American Board of 
Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 




RS. HARRIET A. RATHBONE,* 
a respected resident of Salem, was 
born in the house in which she 
now resides, daughter of William A. and 
Emeline (Morgan) Strickland. Her father 
was born January 23, 1S12, and was a farmer 
by occupation. By his wife, Emeline, who was 
born January 17, 181 3, he had three children: 
William N., a farmer, residing in Salem; 
James Morgan, a resident of Norwich; and 
Harriet A. The father died in 1882, at the 
age of seventy. His wife passed away four 
years later, and both were laid to rest in the 
Congregational churchyard at Salem. 

Harriet A. Strickland was educated chiefly 
at the Sheffield Seminary, and afterward 
taught the district school for some time. She 
subsequently married Alban Rathbone, son of 




JKI'HTHAH G. BILL. 



/ 







^d 




MRS. JEPHTHAH G. H1I.L. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



335 



Alban and Harriet (Boyers) Rathbone and a 
pattern-maker and a master mechanic. After 
the breaking out of the war Mr. Rathbone 

c n listed in Company C, Twenty-fourth Con- 
necticut Regiment. lie was wounded in ac- 
tion, and confined for some time in a hospital 
in the South. lie died of consumption, Au- 
gust 7, 1876, at the age of thirty-seven years, 
as a result of the hardships encountered dur- 
ing service in the army. He left one son, 
I Icnrv A., who grew up, married, and has a wife 
.mil one son, John, the latter still a hah)- boy. 
Except dining the short period of her mar- 
ried life Mrs. Rathbone has always resided 
at the old home of her parents. Since her 
father's death she has carried on the farm, 
and has succeeded by pluck and perseverance 
in gaining a comfortable livelihood. Few 
er examples could be presented of the 
enterprising and self-reliant women of New 
London County. 



,'EPHTHAH G. BILL, a leading farmer 
of Griswold, in the north-eastern part 

of New London County, was born in 
this town, September 7, iXj.,, son of Elisha 
Satterlee and Olivel (Geer) Hill, llis pater- 
nal grandfather was a prosperous farmer of 
Gr.oton, in the southern part of the county, 
anil had a family of five sons and three daugh- 
ters. 

His father, Elisha S. Bill, a farmer and 
shoemaker, and a prominent man in public 
affairs, was born in 1798, in that part of the 
old town of Groton that is now Ledyard, and 
dieil in Griswold, at the age of sixty-five. He- 
was twice married. His first wile, Olivet, to 
whom he was united in 1818, was born in 
Preston in 1800, daughter of Jephthah and 
Olivet (Herrick) Geer. She died in March, 
1837, having been the mother of the following 
children: Sarah Maria, born 1819, now de- 



ceased; James L., born August 16, i.Sji, now 
living at Clark's Falls, Ninth Stonington ; 
Jephthah G., bom in [823; -Ann Elizabeth, 
born in 1825; Amos William, born in 1827; 
Sidney \V. ; Elisha, a farmer who died in 
middle life at North Stonington; and Ezra 
Gardner, a blind teacher, superintendent in 
the Blind School at Hartford. Amos W. Bill 
was a soldier in the Twenty-sixth Connecticut 
Infantry in the war of the Rebellion, and 
was detailed as a despatch bearer. He was at 
Port Hudson. Only three of these children 
are living today; namely, James, Jephthah, 
and Ezra. The lather married for his second 
wife Celestina Lucy Ann Walcott Shaw, 
witlow of Charles Barber, who was lost at sea. 
Six sons anil four daughters were bom of this 
union, and three of the family are now living, 
namely: Hibbard, who is in Massachusetts; 
Nelson, a mechanic in West Medway; and 
Nancy Ann Gennett, now Alts. Richmond, of 
Greenville. The second Mrs. Bill survived 
her husband some years, and died at the age of 
liltv. Benjamin Shaw Hill, one of her sons, 
was a volunteer soldier from Connecticut in 
the late war, and died in Andersonville Prison. 
Mr. Jephthah G. Bill received a good com- 
mon-school education, and made his home with 
his father until his marriage, in his twenty- 
fifth year. Forty-four years ago he settled on 
the old Benjamin farm of seventy acres, which 
was owned and occupied in the last century 
by Ezra Benjamin, his wife's grandfather, a 
great-uncle, John Benjamin, having bought 
a large tiact of land, which was divided 
among his heirs. Mr. Hill owns about two 
hundred and fifty acres, and carries on general 
farming and dairying, making considerable 
butter. He has been a Justice of the Peace 
for many years, and has had charge of settling 
many estates. In this responsible position he- 
has shown great executive ability and entire 



33 6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



fidelity to the confidence reposed in him, and 
to-day no man in the community has a fairer 
reputation for integrity and absolute honor. 

Mr. Bill was married on February 15, 
1848, to Prudence Powers Benjamin, daughter 
of Karnes and Prudence (Chapman) Benjamin. 
The family annals furnish a striking instance 
of longevity, one of Mrs. Bill's great-uncles, 
Abiel Benjamin, having lived to be nearly one 
hundred and four years'old, and so vigorous on 
his one hundredth anniversary that he walked 
the distance of half a mile. The early Benja- 
mins were Methodists, and Mrs. Bill was a 
member and active worker in the Methodist 
church. She died on the last day of June, 
1896, at the age of seventy-five, after forty- 
eight years of wedded life. Shortly after re- 
tiring for the night, apparently as well as 
ever, she was stricken with heart failure, and 
expired almost instantly. Mrs. Bill was the 
mother of three children, of whom the follow- 
ing is a brief record : Benjamin Jephthah, the 
eldest, is a physician and .surgeon at Genoa 
Junction, Wis., has a lucrative practice, stands 
high in his profession, and is active in the 
social and religious life of the community, 
lie lias four sons and two daughters. Harriet 
Prudence Bill married Ransom H. Young, and 
is the mother of four children — three sons 
and a daughter. Ann Isabella Bill died when 
nearly fourteen years of age. 

Mr. Bill united with the Methodist Episco- 
pal church at the age of twelve years, and has 
ever since been an active Christian worker. 
He has been class leader and steward, and is 
associated with the work of the Sunday-school, 
and with all the benevolent and charitable 
activities of the church. He is a Republican 
in politics; and in 1870 he represented the 
town of Griswold in the State legislature, run- 
ning far ahead of the ticket at the time of his 
election. 




REDERICK HOWARD DART, 

M.D.,* a prominent medical practi- 
tioner of Niantic, was born across the 
river, in the town of Waterford, on the 6th of 
March, i860, and is descended from Richard 
Dart, who bought land in New London at an 
early date. Richard's son, William Dart, 
was born September 21, 1762, in Waterford. 

William's son Leonard, grandfather of Dr. 
Dart, was born May S, 1802, and died in 1882. 
He was in business in New London for many 
years, and up to some fifteen or twenty years 
before his death. He and his brother, Giles 
Dart, were engaged in the manufacture of 
coffee-mills, and were also in company with 
Mr. Wilson in the manufacture of vises, Mr. 
Wilson being one of the early and prominent 
manufacturers, in whose employ Grandfather 
Dart was engaged for a time. Leonard Dart 
married Harriet Bishop Watrous, born May 
22, 1806, daughter of Deacon John Watrous, 
a prominent land-owner at Lake Pond. 
Leonard, the only child by this marriage, 
became father of the Doctor. He was en- 
gaged in mercantile business for some years, 
and was of the firm of Stewart & Dart. He 
is now employed in the office of E. B. Pierce, 
mason and builder. His wife, Josephine 
Beckwith, to whom he was married in 1S54, 
was born March 31, 1833, in Waterford, 
daughter of Daniel D. and Miranda Beckwith. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Dart are members of the 
Second Congregational Church. The elder 
son of this marriage, Leonard Watrous Dart, 
Jr., born April 16, 1858, resides in New Lon- 
don, and is book-keeper for Palmer Brothers. 
He has one daughter, named Dorothy, born 
in 1892. 

Dr. Dart acquired his early education at 
Pepper Box Hill and Montville and in the 
Bulkley High School, New London, and 
studied medicine in the medical department 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEW 



337 



of Columbia College, New York, graduating 
in the class of 1884. He opened practice in 
this town in 1885, being associated with Dr. 
Munger for about five years, and since then 
has had an independent practice. He has 
earned for himself an excellent reputation as 
a physician and a man of the strictest probity. 
His field of practice covers a wide area, and 
he keeps four horses for use in attending to 
his professional work. He is connected with 
the various medical societies of this region, 
and his skill is recognized by his fellow- 
physicians as well as by the public at large. 
lie is a member of the State and county medi- 
cal societies, also of the New London Medi- 
cal Society, and is president of the New Lon- 
don Medical Club. He is United States 
Medical Examiner of Pensions for the dis- 
trict of Xew London and examiner for the 
coroner and lor the Hoard of Health of the 
town ol East Lyme. He is Post Surgeon, 
and he has been on the Board of School Visi- 
tors for four years, being now chairman. Fra- 
ternally, he is a Master Mason. 

Dr. Dart took as his life partner Maria 
L. Pond, daughter of Norman J. and Jane 
(Moody) Pond, of East Lyme, originally from 
Yarmouth, N.S., where Mr. Pond had been 
a prominent banker. Mrs. Dart's father died 
in this town in 18.X4, leaving to his widow 
and eight children the fine property of Black 
Point. He was a son of Dr. Bond, of Nova 
Scotia. Dr. and Mrs. Dart are prominent 
Episcopalians and members of St. James's 
Parish, New London. They have one son, 
Frederick Bond Dart, born February 27, 1S96. 



|APTAIN WILLIAM II. SISTARE, 
a retired sea captain of New London, 
Conn., was born in this city 
on September 9, 183 1, son of William M. 




and Martha (Beebe) Sistare. He is de- 
scended from a Spanish family. Don Gabriel 
Sistare (also written Sistere), the earliest 
known ancestor, was born in Barcelona, Spain, 
in 1700. He married Marie Mitzavila. 
Their son, Captain Gabriel Sistare, who was 
born in Barcelona on May 1, [726, settled in 
New London, October 14, 1 77 1 . lie was 
twice married. His first wife, whose maiden 
name was Maria Molas, died in Barcelona, 
leaving one child, also named Gabriel, bom 
in Barcelona in 1754, who came to this city 
with Captain De Shon in 177-, and subse- 
quently married Frances Chew. The latter 
was born in 1759, daughter of Joseph ami 
Frances De Shon Chew. Captain Gabriel's 
second marriage was made with Elizabeth 
Beebe, who had one child, Joseph, born April 
22, 1774. Joseph Sistare married Nancy 
Wey, who died in New York City on Novem- 
ber 13, i860. She was a descendant of 
George Wey, who was horn in New London 
in 1630. Captain Gabriel died February 3, 
1795; while his widow survived until Septem- 
ber ii, 1798. Gabriel Sistare (third) died 
on January 11, 1820; and his wife passed 
away on October 11, 1841. 

William M. Sistare, born in this city on 
July 2, [794, was a Xew London merchant, 
and served his country as Quartermaster in 
the War of 181 _\ He married Martha Beebe: 
and they had four children, of whom William 
II., the subject of this sketch, is the only sur- 
vivor. The others were: Joseph Allen, who 
was a master mariner, and died in this city in 
1871, at the age of forty, leaving four sons; 
James Morgan Sistare. also a sea captain, who 
died in January, 1X92, at the age of fifty- 
three, leaving five children; and Mary Ellen, 
who was the wife of Orrin Beckwith, and died 
at the age of thirty-one, leaving three children. 
The father lived to be eighty-seven years of 



33§ 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 



age, and the mother attained the age of 
seventy-five. 

William II. Sistare acquired a good com- 
mon-school education. He had been a clerk 
in his father's store for some time, when at 
the age of sixteen years he went in his own 
fishing-sloop, the " Harriet," from Cape May 
to Chatham, Cape Cod, Mass. Thereafter he 
was engaged in the coasting trade for nearly 
forty years. He retired in 18S6, after a suc- 
cessful career. In politics he affiliates with 
the Republican party. 

On June 9, 1 S 5 9, Captain Sistare was mar- 
ried to Mary B. Paige, of this city. Her 
parents, John S. and Harriet Newell (Beebe) 
Paige, now deceased, were natives respec- 
tively of North Brookfield, Mass., and New 
London. Of their twelve children they reared 
seven, all of whom ,are living. Frank L. 
Paige, the only brother of Mrs. Sistare, is 
a clothier in New York City. Mr. and Mrs. 
Sistare have had nine children, of whom three 
died in infancy and Gabriel Carlos in his 
fifth year. The survivors are: Ellen, John 
Foster, Mattie Serena, Lycurgus^Mackie, and 
llattie Breckenridge, all of whom have been 
educated in New London. Lycurgus is a 
letter carrier in this city. John Foster, born 
March 24, [864, is a member of the well- 
known firm Palmer & Sistare, of New Lon- 
don. In religion Mr. Sistare and his family 
are Congregational ists. They reside at 44 
Shaw Street, where William M. Sistare built 
a house in 1842. The adjoining lot has been 
the property of the Sistare family since 1757. 



"ENRY !■:. WEST, of New London, 
now retired from active business, at 
one time kept one of the best livery 
stables in the county. He was born in Leb- 
anon, this State, June 15, 1821, son of Enos 




and Nancy (Latham) West, both of whom 
were natives of Connecticut. His grand- 
father, Joshua West, a farmer of Montville, 
Conn., residing near Gardner's Lake, had a 
family of two daughters and two sons, the 
boys being twins. 

Enos West, the only child of his parents 
that reached maturity, was born in Montville, 
March 12, 1781. He, too, was a farmer, and 
was fairly well-to-do. His death occurred in 
Colchester, Conn., February 10, 1846. His 
wife, to whom he was married on November 
29, 1808, was born in Groton, January 16, 
1789. She reared two daughters and one 
son, and died at the home of the latter in 
New London, January 8, 1S80, eight days 
prior to her ninety-first birthday. The elder 
daughter, Hannah W., who became the wife 
of William Smith, of Walpole, Mass., died in 
Willimantic, Conn., November 9, 1845, leav- 
ing one son, Frank Howard Smith. Frank 
H. Smith lives in New London, and has 
one son, Herbert Raymond, a young man of 
twenty-one, attending college at New Haven. 
The other daughter, Mary Perkins West, 
married Waldo Bingham, of Windham, Conn., 
and died in that town, August 27, 1853, leav- 
ing one daughter, Josephine W., who is now 
living in Windham. 

Henry E. West, who was the only son of 
his parents, was reared on a farm, remaining 
with his father and mother until he was eigh- 
teen years of age. After the family moved 
to Colchester, he attended school for a couple 
of years. He was then employed in Col- 
chester for one year or more, and in that place 
first engaged in the livery business. On 
April 12, 1844, he located in New London; 
and in February, 1847, his brother-in-law, 
William Smith, became his partner. To- 
gether they built up a first-class trade, the 
firm of West & Smith soon taking place 




JOHN B. SIZEK 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



34 > 



among the best livery firms of the county. 
They were in business until 1890. Mr. 
Smith died November 10, 1S94. Mr. West, 
though now practically retired from business, 
finds pleasure and occupation in dispensing 
a cure for rheumatism that he discovered, and. 
which has become very popular. 

On June 9, 1846, Mr. Smith was married 
to Abby Ann, daughter of William and Lucy 
(Bigelow) Gelston. Mr. Gelston, who was a 
farmer and a native of East 1 laddam, died in 
1875, at the aye of eighty-eight. His wife, 
a native ot Colchester, Conn., died in June, 
[880, aged eighty-one years and six months. 
Four of the six children born to this couple 
grew to maturity, namely: Abby A., now 
Mrs. West; Maltby and John Bigelow Gel- 
ston, who reside in Hast Haddam ; and Lucy, 
who makes her home with Mr. West. Mr. 
West has no children. In politics he is in- 
dependent, usually voting for the Democratic 
candidate. He has served in the City Coun- 
cil. His religious belief is not restricted by 
the lines of creed. Thirty-seven years ago 
he moved into his pleasant home' at 35 Main 
Street, one of the old Colonial houses of New 
London, roomy, substantial, and well pre- 
ed in spite of its age. 



-OIIN BRUCE SIZER, the steward of 
the Old Ladies' Home in New London, 
was born here, July 12, 1839. His 
father and paternal grandfather, both named 
Jonathan, were also residents of New London. 
The Si/ers, who are an old and respected fam- 
ily, originally came from Salem, Mass. The 
father had the first and the only brass foundry 
in Connecticut at that time. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Sarah Way, had eight chil- 
dren, of whom John 15. and Rose — who is the 
wife of George Potter, of this city — are liv- 



ing. Mary married David A. Pollock, and 
died at the age of thirty-two. By a second 
marriage, contracted with Thomas II . Brooks, 
the mother had twins, Henry and Thomas, 
both now deceased. After Mr. Brooks's death 
a third marriage united her to Alfred Hemp- 
stead, who survived her, and left a noble rec- 
ord besides property. Mr. Hempstead was 
much sought for in the settlement of estates. 
Both were kind to the poor, and had a large 
circle of admiring friends. 

On November 3, 1 869, Mr. Si/er was mar- 
ried to Mrs. Mary Esther Stevens Lyons, a 
native of this city and a daughter of Captain 
Daniel and Sophia Rogers (Holt) Stevens. 
Her grandfather, Giles Holt, was a well- 
known sea captain of New London. Her 
father at the age of twenty-six was the com- 
mander of a line steamer plying between New 
York and Liverpool. Born in Saco, Me., he 
was a man of fine physique, measuring six 
feet, four inches, and weighing two hum Ire, I 
and twenty-five pounds. He died at the age 
of twenty-six. In her childhood Mrs. Sizer 
made several voyages abroad. She was first 
married at the early age of sixteen to Captain 
Joshua Lyons, and by him had one child, 
William Edgar Lyons, a line young man, who 
died at the age of twenty-one years. Mrs. 
Si/er has three half-brothers — Jeremiah 
Slate, Franklin Slate, and Samuel Norris 
Shite — who are all sea captains and residents 
of New London. 

Mr. and Mrs. Sizer have held their joint 
positions of honor and responsibility as matron 
and steward of the Old Ladies' Home for over 
ten years. This institution, which was estab- 
lished almost thirteen years ago, occupies a 
three-story brick structure, with accommoda- 
tions for thirty inmates. The efficient Bo 
of Directors are: the Hon. Robert Coit (presi- 
dent), the Hon. Augustus Brandagee, the Hon. 



342 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Thomas Waller, Henry R. Bond, Dr. Bixter, 
and Dr. Blake. Drs. Bixter and Blake are 
pastors of Congregational churches. Dr. 
Braman is the attending physician, and Mrs. 
Helen Spencer is the head nurse. Mrs. 
Sizer has conducted her household so harmo- 
niously that few changes have been necessary. 
She settles her bills monthly, and is respon- 
sible to the president, Mr. Coit, alone. 




APTAIN JOSEPH WARREN 
HOLMES,* whose home is in the 



.^ ' village of Mystic, Conn., was born 

here on April i, 1824. His parents were 
Captain Jeremiah and Ann B. (Denison) 
Holmes. 

Jeremiah Holmes, Sr. , the father of Cap- 
tain Jeremiah, was a farmer in Stonington. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Deni- 
son, was a descendant of George Denison, 
one of the early settlers of New London, 
Conn., who came to this country from Eng- 
land in 1631 in the ship "Lion," and lived 
for some time at Roxbury, Mass. 

Captain Jeremiah Holmes was born in Mill- 
town, Conn., September 6, 1782. He was 
but eight years old when his father died. 
Remaining with his mother until fourteen 
years of age, he then went to live with his 
brother-in-law, Thomas Crary, in Norwich, 
Chenango County, N.Y., where he worked 
and attended school. In the winter of 1800 
he went to New York City, walking to Cats- 
kill on the Hudson, and going from there by 
a packet boat. Naturally of a restless spirit 
and possessing a strong desire to see the 
world, he shipped in the schooner "Four Sis- 
ters" for Falkland Islands; but the unlawful 
smuggling scheme of her commander, Cap- 
tain Peleg Barker, landed them instead in 
Para, Brazil, in a Portuguese dungeon that 



was hot, dark, and damp. Two months later 
they were transferred to a frigate, and subse- 
quently taken to Lisbon on a Portuguese ves- 
sel, which was one hundred and thirty days on 
the way, though ordinarily the trip required 
but fifty. Lacking sufficient food and water, 
without bread and meat, and suffering for 
want of clothing and cleanliness, their condi- 
tion can be better imagined than described. 
Of their treatment on reaching Lisbon, no de- 
tails are given; but Jeremiah Holmes eventu- 
ally reached New York again, and, undaunted 
by his experience, continued his seafaring 
life, and rose to the position of captain. 
One memory of his adventure was always dear 
to him, that of his true and generous sailor 
friend, Hans, of Norway. For his gallant 
service in the War of 1812, Captain Jeremiah 
Holmes won the title of Hero of Stoning- 
ton. He lived to be ninety years of age, and 
his wife to be ninety-nine. They were the 
parents of nine children, of whom four sons 
and two daughters grew to maturity. One 
son, Isaac D., is now living in Mystic; his 
sister, Mary Ann, wife of Randall Brown, 
died in 1894; and Esther O, wife of Captain 
Latham, died in 1895, leaving one daughter. 

Joseph Warren Holmes attended school 
here in Mystic until thirteen years old. He 
then went to sea as cabin boy on the "Ap- 
palachicola, " commanded by Captain Latham, 
and was gone nine months. During the next 
three years he went with his father summers 
in the packet "Leeds" from New York to 
Mystic, and in the winter attended school. 
The summer he was sixteen he was mate of a 
sloop. The following winter he spent in 
Suffield, and in the spring shipped on the 
bark "Leander," under Captain Bailey, with 
whom he made his first voyage around the 
world, completing the circuit in twenty-two 
months. The "Leander" was engaged in 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



343 



whale fishery in the South Atlantic, Smith 
Pacific, and Indian Oceans. At twenty-one 
he became master of the same bark, on which 
he made three voyages, the second and third 
of twenty months each. Leaving the " Lean- 
der" in 1847, lie went in the "Coriolanus" on 
a whaling trip to the Indian Ocean, followed 
by a voyage to the Arctic Ocean, where the 
ship was filled in sixty days. He continued 
to engage in the whale fishery until 1854. 

After leaving the "Coriolanus," Captain 
Holmes was successively commander of the 
"Fanning," "Frances," "Haze," "Twilight," 
and "'Seminole"; and for the past ten years or 
more he has had charge of the "Charmer," a 
full-rigged merchantman, which sails from 
New York to San Francisco and foreign ports. 
She is of about nineteen hundred tons' 
burden, and when fully manned has a crew of 
twenty-eight men, and in the eyes of her cap- 
tain is as fine a ship as sails from Xew York 
Harbor. She is owned by John Rosenfeldt, 
of San Francisco; and it is between these two 
ports that most of her trips are made, bring- 
ing wine, wool, and other products to New 
York, and taking back Eastern manufactures 
for the Pacific coast. Occasionally, when the 
markets are favorable, she crosses the At- 
lantic with a cargo of grain, etc., for Euro- 
pean consumption, and returns laden with 
rare and beautiful as well as useful wares. 
Many of the furnishings in his home have 
been gathered from various quarters of the 
globe, beautiful rugs, china, bric-a-brac, cabi- 
nets of shells, and other sea treasures making 
it a storehouse of pleasure to the lover of 
curios. Several very handsome centre tables 
deserve special mention. The tops were 
made by himself, with the aid of a jig-saw, in 
his hours of leisure when on board ship, and 
consist of a great variety of woods artisti- 
cally set together. He was once offered three 



hundred dollars for one of these tables, but 
they are more to him than their money value. 
It is doubtful if Captain Holmes's record as 
a mariner is paralleled by that of any other. 
For nearly or quite sixty years he has fol- 
lowed the sea. No vessel under his command 
has ever been lost or shipwrecked, and not a 
man of all his crews was ever lost. 

Winds have not always been favorable, how- 
ever, as the following, quoted from an article 
published in a Providence paper in October, 
1896, will show: "Yes," replied the Captain 
in answer to a question as to his experience, 
"I have seen some pretty bad blows. Let me 
see," and he mused a moment with a retro- 
spective look in his eyes. "About four years 
ago we ran into a couple of typhoons on our 
way out from San Francisco to Hong-Kong. 
It was about off Yokohama when they struck 
us, one right after the other: and there were 
lively times aboard the good ship 'Charmer" 
for a while. We lost our rudder, and were 
in a tight place for a spell: but, fortunately, 
the gales passed on before we were swamped, 
and we put into port for repairs. On my very 
last trip from Japan two storms struck us in 
the Pacific; but we weathered them success- 
fully, and dropped anchor off quarantine 
three weeks ago. When I was in the 'Semi- 
nole" in 1 868, we encountered a white squall 
six days out of New York, and were dis- 
masted; but we put back, and, after making 
repairs, sailed again, and met with no more 
mishaps that voyage." In his journeyings 
Captain Holmes has been three times around 
the world, has doubled ("ape Horn seventy- 
three times and the Cape of Good Hope six- 
teen times. 

Captain Holmes was married September 3, 
1847, to Miss Mary O. Denison, his second 
cousin. One son was born to them, Edwin 
Warren Holmes, who for several years sailed 



344 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



with his father as mate. He died of pneu- 
monia in 1883, at the' age of twenty-seven, 
leaving a widow and one son, Edwin Warren, 
who reside in San Francisco. Mrs. Holmes 
accompanied her husband on his voyages. 
She died at their home here in Mystic in 
1887, aged sixty years. Captain Holmes pur- 
chased this place in 1865. Many a seafarer 
has had his home" in this village, but no name 
will be remembered longer or more pleasantly 
than that of Captain Holmes. 




ILLIAM PALMER SMITH, a re- 
tired gentleman of New London, 
was born October 19, 1823, in a 
house on Bank Street, a few doors removed 
from his present home. His parents were 
Sabin King and Joanna (Beckwith) Smith. 
Joseph Smith, of Montville, this county, the 
paternal grandfather, married Sally Smith, a 
daughter of Paul and a grand-daughter of 
Nehemiah Smith. By this union there were 
four sons and three daughters, all of whom 
became octogenarians. Anson, the last mem- 
ber of the family, died at the age of ninety-six. 
Sabin King Smith was a successful mer- 
chant in New London from his youth to his 
death. At one time he owned the valuable 
business property extending from the Cronin 
Building on State Street around to Hemp- 
stead's store on Bank Street, with the excep- 
tion of a single building. One of the moneyed 
men of the place from 1830 to 1840, he subse- 
quently met with heavy reverses. He was a 
Mason of high degree. The maiden name of 
his first wife was Joanna Beckwith, who made 
him the father of nine children. She died in 
[829, leaving four sons and three daughters. 
Of these the only other survivor besides 
William Palmer is Sabin, a resident of Chi- 
cago, who is now nearly eighty years old. 



By Sabin's second marriage there were two 
children — Joseph Ledyard and Adelaide Jo- 
anna. Joseph is now deceased. Adelaide is 
the wife of P. G. Freeman, of Indepen- 
dence, la. 

Leaving school at the age of fourteen, 
William Palmer Smith entered his brother's 
employ as clerk. Six years later he was in 
business for himself within a few doors of his 
present store. He continued in trade from 
1S43 to 1850, when he went to California by 
way of the Isthmus, returning six months 
thereafter. During the Civil War he was en- 
gaged in New York City, exporting butter and 
cheese to England and Germany. In politics 
he has affiliated with the Democratic party, 
but he voted for McKinley in 1896. A prom- 
inent Mason, he belongs to Union Lodge of 
New London; to the Royal Arch Chapter, of 
which he has been High Priest; and to Pales- 
tine Commandery, Knights Templar. 

Mr. Smith has been twice married. On the 
first occasion he was united to Sarah Fuller, 
of Norwich, who died in 1853. She left an 
only child, Clarence, who died in the South 
in middle age. The second marriage was 
contracted with Sophia Peck Marsh, a 
widow, who had three sons by her first mar- 
riage. The latter are: Daniel S. Marsh, who 
is a music dealer in New London, and has two 
children; P"rank A. Marsh, of Chicago, a 
wealthy man and unmarried, who is the pur- 
chasing agent for the Rock Island Railroad; 
and P'ben J. Marsh, a lumber manufacturer in 
Georgetown, S. C, who is married and has 
one daughter. The second Mrs. Snfith died 
in 1893, at tne a S e °f seventy-four years. 
Mr. Smith retired from business over twenty 
years ago, and resides over his stores at 52, 
54, and 56 State Street, which have a frontage 
of forty feet, and were purchased by him in 
1855. ' 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



345 




"ON. JOHN U. PARK, ex-Chief Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court of the 
State of Connecticut, died at his 
home on River Avenue in Norwich, New 
London Counts', on the fourth day of August, 
1896. He was horn in the town of Preston, 
in the same county, on the twenty-sixth day 
of April, A.D. 1819. He was a direct de- 
scendant of Sir Robert Parke, who, with his 
wife and three sons, came from Preston, Lan- 
cashire, England, to Massachusetts in 1630, 
and later removed to New London, Conn. 

He had three sons. In England the gene- 
alogy of the Parke family has been traced with 
the line of the late Earl of Wensleydale, who 
was of the English Parke ancestry. Sir 
Robert Parke's youngest son was Thomas 
Parke, who was the father of Robert Parke, 
who was the father of Hezekiah Parke, who 
was the father of the Rev. Paul Park (the 
great-grandfather of the Hon. John D. Park), 
who was born in Preston, and lived and died 
in the same town. The family name was 
spelled with an "e" (Parke) until the Rev. 
Paul Park dropped that letter. He was a man 
of large intellect, broad-minded in his views 
and very influential. lie became a preacher, 
and for over half a century he preached in the 
parish where he was born, receiving no re- 
muneration for his labors; and he also was as- 
sessed for the standing order of the clergy. 

Elisha, son of the Rev. Paul Park, was also 
born in Preston. He married Miss Margaret 
Avery, of Groton, Conn., by whom he had two 
children — Ephraim and Lucy, both of whom 
grew to maturity and married. For his second 
wife Elisha Park married Miss Hannah Helton, 
who lived to be over eight}- years old. Their 
union was blessed by four children — Niles, 
Margaret, Joseph, and Benjamin Franklin. 

Benjamin Franklin Park, father of John D., 
was born January 17, 1782. He was a success- 



ful farmer of Preston; and be also conducted a 
country store, where he dealt in general mer- 
chandise. He married Miss Hannah A\ 
daughter of Colonel David Avery, a farmer of 
Preston. Of this marriage eight children 
were horn, all of whom reached adult years; 
and lor many years there was no death in this 
family of ten persons. Only .two of its mem- 
bers, however, are now living: Albert Frank- 
lin, the second child and eldest son, born De- 
cember ii, 1814, and a resident oi Norwich; 
and Hannah Cornelia, wife of James \V 
man, who resides on a part of the old farm, at 
a place where one of the earliest American 
progenitors of the family settled about 1630, 
coming thither from Boston. The mother 
died January 17, 1855, in her sixty-second 
year, being the first to pass away. The fat bet 
survived her some years, dying October 8, 
1863, in his eighty-second year. 

John D. Park passed his boyhood on his 
father's farm. At sixteen he taught his first 
term of school, and he followed teaching sev- 
eral winters. In 1845, when twenty-six years 
of age, he entered the law office of the Hon. 
Lafayette S. Foster, the lawyer and statesman 
who held the office of Vice President after 
Lincoln's death. Mr. Park pursued the study 
of law with such diligence that in Febru- 
ary, 1S47, he was admitted to the bar. He at 
once opened an office in Norwich, and engaged 
in practice. In 1853 he was nominated as 
Senator to the General Assembly, and the 
following year was elected Judge of the 
County Court, New London Count)-. In 1S55 
he represented the town of Norwich in the 
State legislature, and served with distinction 
in the controversy between rival gas com- 
panies. During this session of the legislat- 
ure there was a radical change in the courts of 
the State, the county courts being abolish 
and their business transferred to the Superior 



34^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Courts ; and Mr. Park was elected one of the 
Superior Court Judges. In 1863 he was re- 
elected Judge of the_ Superior Court for the 
regulation term of eight years, and in 1864 
he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court of 
Errors, being re-elected to that office in 1872. 
The same year he was made a Chief Justice of 
the State. This office he held for fifteen 
years and seven months, and on his retire- 
ment from the Supreme Court, having reached 
the age limit, seventy years, he was appointed 
State Referee, an office created for him. The 
degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon 
him by Yale College in 1861, and that of 
Doctor of Laws in 1878. His death brought 
to a close one of the most brilliant legal 
careers that has ever been wrought out in this 
State. The high mark attained in his profes- 
sion was gained by an industry that overcame 
all obstacles. He was a clear and logical rea- 
soner, weighing well every detail; and his de- 
cisions in matters of law will stand as a mon- 
ument to his ability. 

On July 6, 1864, Judge Park was married 
to Emma Wainwright Allen, of Middlebury, 
Vt. Their four children all died in infancy. 
Mrs. Park died September 17, 18S4, at forty- 
four years of age. In politics Judge Park was 
first a Whig and later a Republican. In re- 
ligious views he was an Episcopalian. 



/^A II ESTER W. BARNES, an enterpris- 
I \r ing grocer of Preston, was bom in 

X J 8 ^ Norwich, March 16, 1841, son of 
Avery YV. and Lucy (Sherman) Barnes. His 
grandfather, Avery Barnes, who was born in 
Groton, married in 1S04 Abigail Cook, a 
daughter of Elisha Cook, of Preston. In the 
following year they settled on their farm. 
They had eleven children, of whom six are 
now living. Nabby, the first-born, became 



the wife of Reuben Cook, and died when 
ninety years of age. Eunice married Albert 
Holmes, and died in 1887, at the age of 
eighty. Lucy is an octogenarian, and resides 
in Preston City. Prudence is the wife of 
Hiram Browning, of this place. Ruth Ann 
is the widow of Charles Eaton, and lives in 
Norwich. Almeda, born in 1824, is the 
widow of Neheminh Cook, and lives in 
Franklin, Conn. Chester M., born June 6, 
1826, owns a farm adjoining the old home- 
stead. Mrs. Avery Barnes, after surviving 
her husband three years, died December 21, 
1878, in the ninety-fourth year of her age. 
Some time before a family reunion took place 
in celebration of the eighty-ninth birthday of 
Avery Barnes, when he and his wife had then 
been united in matrimony for sixty-six years, 
when their first-born was sixty-five years old, 
and seven of their children, twenty-three of 
their grandchildren, and fourteen great-grand- 
children were present, the sum of whose ages, 
with those of their eleven children, was seven 
hundred and eighty-nine years. Two inter- 
esting poems, previously prepared for the pur- 
pose, were read on this occasion. 

Avery W. Barnes in 1833 married Lucy, 
daughter of Moses Sherman. She died in 
1869, at the age of fifty-seven, leaving three 
children. Their daughter Harriet had died at 
the age of eighteen. Those now living are 
Lucy, Chester W. , and George. Lucy is the 
widow of Harley A. Bromley, and resides in 
the neighborhood. George has lived for 
twenty years in the South. The father is now 
in his eighty-ninth year. 

Chester VV. Barnes was reared to farm life, 
living with his grandparents until fifteen years 
old. When twenty-seven years old he mar- 
ried Emily Dean Le Noir, the widow of 
Henry Le Noir, and a daughter of Nathan and 
Emily Hovey Dean, the ceremony taking 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEW 



'.(7 



])lace December 15, 1868. They have had six 
children, as follows: Harriet, who died at the 
age of rive years; Charles, born February 7, 
1873, who assists his father in his grocery 
business; Frank, who died in infancy; 
Eleanor Hell, who is a graduate of the Nor- 
wich Broadway School; Philo, a youth of six- 
teen, who is also in his father's store; and 
Minnie, a bright girl of twelve years. 

Mr. Barnes is a Mason of the thirty-second 
degree, and he has taken all the degrees in the 
I. O. O. F. He is a Democrat, as all his 
forefathers hive been. He has served as Con- 
stable, was First Selectman and Town Treas- 
urer for one year each, and was re-elected to 
the latter office, but resigned. He has been 
a grand juror, ami was a Representative in the 
State legislature in 1S82, and in 1883 and 
1884 was State Senator. Mr. Haines has 
been a very successful business man. He has 
been in the grocery business for thirty-one 
years in his own name; and he is a large 
dealer in fish, including oysters and clams. 
He has his own fishing-smacks and seines, and 
supplies all the local trade. 



(«J>r'LMARIN T. HALF, the genial and 
JLLi popular landlord of the Crocker 
/- ®v^. House, New London, is a native of 
Norwich, Conn. Horn September 1, 1853, 
he is a son of Almarin R. Hale, who was a 
native of Glastonbury, Conn., born in the year 
1822. The mother, who was a native of Nor- 
wich, had four sons, of whom the subject of 
this sketch is the eldest. The others are: 
Henry, William, and Wallace, all residing 
at Watch Hill, R.I. The father owned the 
Watch Hill House, a favorite summer resort 
since 1872, and enlarged it three times. 
Since his death in May, 1894, his widow and 
the three younger sons have had charge of it. 



Almarin T. Hale spent his boyhood in Nor- 
wich and Hridgeport. He was educated in 
the town schools and at a boarding-school. 
Since he was twenty-five years of age he has 
been interested in a number of hostelries, in- 
cluding the Union House of Green Cove 
Springs, Fla., the Florida House of St. Au- 
gustine, and the Sanford House of Sanford, 
Fla. For many years he was the managing 
clerk of the Watch Hill House for his father. 
In 18S1 he anil his father came to New Lon- 
don, and purchased the Crocker House, which 
they conducted together until 1890, when the 
elder Mr. Hale retired. Of this hostelry a 
local sheet speaks as follows: "The largest 
and best hotel in the city, and one of the 
best in the State of Connecticut, is the es- 
tablishment known as the Crocker House, oi 
which Mr. A. T. Hale is proprietor. The 
building is a handsome structure, five stories 
in height. It is constructed in a thoroughly 
modern manner, and is as complete in all its 
appointments as the requirements of the 
hotel-frequenting public at the present day 
demand. The Crocker House is most eligibly 
situated on State Street, the principal busi- 
ness street of the city, at a convenient dis- 
tance from the railroad depot and within easy 
reach of all points of interest to visitors, 
whether on business or pleasure bent. It is 
only three minutes' distance from the Union 
Railroad Station; and electric cars, which 
provide excellent street transportation service, 
pass the doors every few minutes. The city 
post-office is on the ground floor in the hotel 
building, affording advantages which will 
readily suggest themselves. The office of the 
hotel, the bar, and billiard, writing, and smok- 
ing rooms are also on the ground floor; while 
the dining-room and parlors are on the second 
floor. All the public and private rooms are 
tastefully furnished, and an air oi elegance 



34§ 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



and comfort pervades the entire establishment. 
. . . The establishment has grown steadily 
in public favor, and it may safely be said that 
there is no hotel anywhere that possesses a 
more cheerful or home-like atmosphere. It is 
the headquarters of the college crews and their 
admirers during the race season each summer, 
and is a favorite resort for commercial trav- 
ellers and business men all the year round." 
Mr. Hale is also the manager for the owners 
of the Munnatauket and Mansion Hotels at 
Fisher's Island and of the Mitchell House of 
Thomasville, Ga. 

In 1S77 Almarin T. Hale married Hattie 
A. Wallace, of Bridgeport, Conn., a daughter 
of A. VV. Wallace, of that place. Their only 
child, a son, died in infancy. In politics Mr. 
Hale is a Democrat, and has served as chair- 
man of the Democratic Town Committee. In 
March, 1894, President Cleveland appointed 
him Collector of Customs for the New Lon- 
don port, with jurisdiction extending from 
Noank to the Connecticut River. He is a 
Master Mason. In the Odd Fellows he is a 
member of the encampment. He is connected 
with the Improved Order of Red Men and a 
member of the Great Council of the State. 
For two seasons he was manager of the Ly- 
ceum Theatre without pay, and he has also 
been the president of the Thames Club. Ren- 
dered eligible in more than one line, on his 
mother's side through Lieutenant Thomas 
Tracy, who was one of the original proprietors 
and settlers of Norwich, he is a member of the 
Sons of the Revolution. 



T^AHARLFS HEBER WALDFN, su- 
I Sj^ perintendent of the almshouse at New 

v J 8 ^ London, was born in Montville, 
Conn., June 4, 1839. He is a son of the late 
Rev. Hiram and Rebecca (Bird) Walden, and 



claims among his kindred many who have 
taken an active part in American history. 
William Walden, his great-grandfather, who 
was born in Bristol, England, married on 
August 5, 1754, Ruamis, daughter of Elenar 
and Rebecca (Chapman) Simons, and by this 
union had the following children: Elenar, 
John, Elizabeth, William, Robert, Simon, 
Mary, Amy, Edward, and David. 

William Walden, Jr., the fourth child, was 
Charles H. Walden's grandfather. He was 
born in New London, Conn., September 13, 
1762, and came to this country in childhood. 
Though only in his teens at the time of the 
Revolution, he served in the patriot forces, 
and captured an English soldier, whom he 
took on horseback to the camp. He died 
from an injury at the age of thirty-three. 
His wife, whose maiden, name was Elizabeth 
McFall, was a daughter of William and Deb- 
orah (Chapman) McFall, and is said to have 
been partly of Welsh blood. Her father, 
William McFall, also was a Revolutionary 
soldier. Mrs. Elizabeth McFall Walden lived 
to be nearly fourscore. Her children were: 
Grace, William, Eliza, Hannah, and Hiram, 
above named. 

The following account of the Rev. Hiram 
Walden's life was written by his daughter, 
Mrs. Ellen Walden Darrow. 

Hiram Walden, the youngest child of Will- 
iam and Elizabeth (McFall) Walden, was born 
in Montville, May 13, 1804. He was a 
thoughtful child, learning easily and having 
a retentive memory. His first teacher said 
that he learned the whole alphabet during the 
first day. His boyhood clays were spent with 
his parents in Montville. When but a lad 
he became an earnest Christian, and united 
with the Congregational church in that town. 
Although so young, he asked for baptism by 
immersion, seldom practised at that time by 




CHARLES II. WALDEN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIF.W 



35' 



that denomination; and it was granted. The 
Rev. Abisbai Alden was his faithful pastor 
and firm friend. With him he studied foi 
a time. His parents not being aide to give 
him a libera] education, the church, through 
the influence of that kind pastor, offered to 
pay his expenses in getting the education he 
craved. While at school in the eastern part 
of Massachusetts he became acquainted with 
the Methodist teachings; and, finding them 
more like his own views, he decided to with- 
draw from the Congregational church and 
unite with the Methodist, his earnings shortly 
enabling him to repay the money so kindly 
advanced him by the Congregational church. 
He was a good Greek, Latin, and French 
scholar, and often taught those languages. 

When about twenty years ol age he com- 
menced preaching the gospel, lie was a cir- 
cuit preacher for about fourteen years, and 
after that was pastor of different churches, 
mostly in Massachusetts, the rules of the 
Methodist church then being that no pastor 
could remain with a church more than two 
years. For nearly thirty years Mr. Walden 
faithfully preached the gospel, then his health 
failed. The Methodist preachers of his day re- 
ceived but small salaries; and, his family being 
large, he helped provide for them by teaching 
in public and select schools besides perform- 
ing his duties as pastor. When about fifty 
years of age, lingering consumption marked 
him for its victim. He then settled on a 
farm in his native town, and passed the rest 
of his days in quiet, ever loving and enjoying 
his books. He was even then often called to 
supply a pulpit during the absence of the pas- 
tor and to conduct funeral services. lie took 
but little part in politics, but his townsmen 
honored him with the offices of Selectman and 
Town Registrar. He was also chairman of 
the Board of Education for years, as long as 



his failing health would permit. He died 
Jul) lo. 187I, aged sixty-seven yens. 

Rev. Hiram Walden was married in Jan- 
uary, [827, at Stoughton, Mass., to Rein 
daughter of Abnei and Polly (Gay) Bird. 
She was born in Stoughton, January 31, 1 
Roth of her grandfathers, Private John Bird 
and Lieutenant Lemuel Gay, rendered val- 
uable services in the Revolutionary War. 
Through different branches of her family she 
was connected with Major-general Humphrey 
Atherton, who commanded the military forces 
at Boston in 1^54 — ■' member of the younger 
blanch of the Athertons, of Atherton in Lan- 
caster, England, whose family records run 
back to 1112A.D.; with the Tupper brothers, 
"obstinate Lutherans," who in 1522, in con- 
sequence of persecutions by Charles V., fled 
from Hesse-Cassel, Saxony, losing their prop- 
erty; with Captain Roger Clap]), one of the 
first settlers in Dorchester. Mass., who held 
several important military and civil offices; 
with Thomas Mayhew, who preached to the 
Indians some thirty-three years, and who was 
Governor of Martha's Vineyard in 1647; with 
Thomas Wells, Governor of Connecticut in 
1655 and 165S; with Richard Williams — 
said to have been a relative of Oliver Crom- 
well, their grandfathers in the fourth remove 
being brothers — one of the chief men ol Taun- 
ton, Mass., where he located in (637, one of the 
first to purchase land of the Indians, and Rep- 
resentative from Taunton in the Colonial 
Court for twelve years, between 1645 and 
1665; and with Mary Towne, Mrs. Isaac 
Esty, who was executed as a witch, Septem- 
ber 22, [692, and to whose husband some 
twenty years after her execution tw< 
pounds' damages were paid by the General 
Court of Massachusetts. 

Hiram and Rebecca (Bird) Walden hail the 
following children: Elvira, born July 30, 



35 2 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



1828, in Marshfield, Mass., who married 
Travis P. Douglas, of Waterford, Conn. ; 
Mary Fletcher, born June 29, 1830, in Som- 
erset, Mass., now wife of George P. Rogers, 
of Montville, Conn.; Edwin Hiram, born 
August 4, [832, a physician in practice for 
some time in Ohio, who married first Kate 
Sanderson, second Mary Lovejoy; Ellen Re- 
becca, born September 19, 1S34, in Waterford, 
Conn., now wife of the Rev. Edmund Dar- 
row, of Waterford; William Bramwell, born 
January 19, 1837, in Montville, who married 
first Caroline Rogers, second Adella Gadbois; 
Charles Heber, the subject of this sketch; 
Lucinda Jane, born November 6, 1841, in 
Montville, who died young; Nathan Warren, 
born November 12, 1844, in Montville, who 
was married first to Ella Scott, second to 
Mrs. Laura Oliver, and who died in Decem- 
ber, 1X94; Albert Henry, born March 14, 
1S47, in Montville, Conn., who died young; 
John Wesley, born May 31, 1850, in Mont- 
ville, who married Adella Manwaring, of 
Niantic, Conn. ; and Nelson Bird, born March 
'3> '853, in Montville, who died young. 
The mother, Mrs. Rebecca 15. Walden, died 
March 10, 1880. 

Charles II. Walden remained at home with 
his parents until nineteen years of age, ac- 
quiring his education in the public schools. 
He then taught in a district school for a 
while; and subsequently, during the war, he 
was employed for two years with John W. 
Deiter, getting out timber for the government. 
For eleven years he had charge of Thomas 
Fitch's stock farm in New London, one of the 
finest in the State, noted for its blooded 
li"isrs and cattle, especially Jersey and Al. 
demey cows. /Appointed superintendent of 
the county almshouse at New London in 1881, 
lie immediately began to develop the resources 
of the farm connected with the institution. 



This consists of twenty acres of choice land, 
which under Mr. Walden's supervision is 
well tilled, and produces bountiful crops. 
When he was installed as superintendent, the 
almshouse was a brick building, fifty by one 
hundred feet in dimension, and had twelve 
inmates. The number of inmates now ranges 
from forty to sixty-nine; and the building has 
been enlarged, being at present fifty by one 
hundred and fifty feet in dimension and from 
two to four stories in height. Good order 
prevails, and the whole place bears evidence 
of wise and capable management. Politi- 
cally, Mr. Walden favors the Republican 
party. 

He was married in 1863 to Emily Hannah, 
daughter of Daniel and Hannah (Beebe) Mor- 
gan, of Waterford, Conn. The following 
children have blessed their union: Augusta 
E. , wife of Spencer J. Comstock, of Brooklyn, 
N.Y.; Lillian Bird, wife of Jesse A. Moon, 
of New London, and mother of two sons; 
Frank C, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who married 
Eva V., daughter of William Ferris, of 
Brooklyn, and has two sons and one daughter; 
and Nellie R., who lived but eighteen 
months. 



— ^•••-* 



W: 



LLIAM S. C. PERKINS, M.D, 
for over a quarter-century has min- 
istered to the bodily ailments of the 
residents of Norwich, by whom he is held in 
the highest esteem. Born in East Lyme, New 
London County, February 1, 1837, son of 
Austin Freeman Perkins, he comes of 
French origin. Rufus Perkins, the father of 
Austin Freeman, and an old-time innkeeper 
of Groton, Conn., was a son of John and 
Polly (Freeman) Perkins. Mrs. Rufus Per- 
kins, who outlived her husband many years, 
died about the year 1847, at a venerable age. 



BIOGRAPHICAL KKVIKW 



353 



She bore her husband two sons and two 
daughters. 

Austin Freeman Perkins, who was born in 
Groton about the year 1804, acquired his rudi- 
mentary education in the common schools. 
He read medicine with Dr. Minor, and subse 
quently attended Berkshire Medical College, 
which was then in Pittsfield, Mass., graduating 
therefrom about 1830. On receiving his di- 
ploma, he set up in practice in that portion of 
Lyme known as East Lyme and Flanders vil- 
lage. In the same year lie was married to 
Mary Moore Way, of Lyme, a daughter of 
Klisha Way, a pensioner, who died at the age 
of eighty-five years. Five of their eight chil- 
dren reached adult life, namely: Eunice C, 
who died at twenty-five; William S. C, the 
subject of this biography; Thomas A., a suc- 
cessful Norwich merchant, a member of the 
city government and a Deacon of the Baptist 
church; Julia B., the wife of Sylvester G. 
Jerome, residing in Waterford, Conn. ; and 
Mary A., the wife of Joseph 1'. Morgan, liv- 
ing at Fort Scott, Ark. The mother died in 
1852, when forty-six years of age. Their 
father afterward married Miss Louisa Wight- 
man, who bore him two sons, namely: Austin 
F., now connected with the Norwich Carpet 
Lining Company of this city; and George 
Anson, a box manufacturer here. After the 
mother's death Dr. Austin Perkins formed .1 
third union with Miss Harriet Moore. lie 
died in 1876, and she in 1890. 

William S. C. Perkins attended the com- 
mon and select schools of Last Lyme, also the 
Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield, 
Conn. He then took up the study of medi- 
cine under his father's tuition, was subse- 
quently a student in the medical department 
of Vale College, and in i860 was graduated 
from the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
in New York City. In the same year he 



an the practice of his profession in Mont- 
ville, this count)', remaining there until the 
fall of 1869, the date of his location here in 
Norwich, where he lias been in active and 
very successful practice since. He is a mem- 
ber of the staff of the William W. Backus 
Hospital. This institution, which is fully 
equipped and has about seventy beds, was 
founded by William S. Slater and William 
W. Backus. 

On Ma)- 29, 1861, Dr. Perkins was united 
in marriage with Miss Amelia J. Jerome, of 
Montville, Conn., a daughter of George D. 
and Hannah (Darrow) Jerome. A son and 
daughter live to bless their union, namely: 
Florence A., who married Frank W. Brown- 
ing, of Norwich, and has four children; and 
Charles II. Perkins, M.D., a graduate of the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons of New 
York City in the class of 1891, now prac- 
tising in Norwich, and a member of the 
county and State medical societies. Dr. 
William S. C. Perkins is a Republican in 
politics. A thirty-second degree Mason, he- 
is a member of Somerset Lodge, No. 34, F. & 
A. M.; of Franklin Chapter, No. 4, R. A. M.; 
of Columbian Commandery, K. T. ; and of 
Connecticut Sovereign Consistory, Grand 
East. Like his son, he is a member of the 
county and State medical societies, and in the 
spring of 1896 he was elected president of the 
former. He resides at 50 Broad Street, in 
the home that he purchased in 1880, moving 
there from his former residence, 42 Main 
Street, in August of that year. 



EN \<Y BISHI )!', a former well-known 

resident of New London, who died 
at his home, 4 Jay Street, on Janu- 
ary 25, i8<j2, at the age of seventy-one years, 
was born in Chesterfield, this county, s I 




354 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Charles and Charlotte (Lattimer) Bishop. 
The following obituary of his father appeared 
in a local journal: — ■ 

"On the 18th of April, 1866, died in New 
London, Charles Bishop, Esq., at the vener- 
able age of eighty-two years. He was a most 
worthy member of the Huntington Street Bap- 
tist Church, and his remains were borne to the 
tomb by seven sons as pall-bearers. On Sab- 
bath afternoon, December 15, 1867, his 
widow, Charlotte Bishop, departed this life, 
aged eighty-four; and her lifeless form was 
laid to rest beside her husband by the same 
seven sons, with a commendable filial love and 
reverence, and tenderly and carefully, as 
they had their father's one and one-half years 
ago. These two occasions were most impres- 
sive, and events full of interest and sugges- 
tion — reminiscences worth cherishing, which 
will never fade from the memory of these 
sons. The one who had borne them, guarded 
and watched over them from the cradle to 
manhood, was now being borne by them, ten- 
derly and tearfully, and laid to rest in that 
long and dreamless sleep which knows no wak- 
ing. And what is most significant is that 
she was the mother of eight children, seven 
sons and one daughter, and all were there to 
pay their last tribute. And those standing 
around the grave of the father represented an 
aggregate of life of over four hundred years." 
Further information in regard to the family 
may be found in the sketch of Charles Bishop, 
brother of the subject of this sketch, published 
elsewhere in this volume. 

At the age of fifteen Henry Bishop came to 
this city, ami learned the carpenter's trade 
with his older brother, John Bishop. After- 
ward In- worked as a journeyman many years. 
Then, without capital, he started in business 
with the firm of Bishop Brothers, lumber 
dealers and builders. The firm comprised 



Charles, Henry, and Gilbert Bishop, until 
some five years before the death of Henry, 
when Charles withdrew, leaving the other two 
to constitute the firm. Mr. Bishop was an 
honored citizen of New London, and had con- 
tributed his full share to the prosperity and 
growth of the city by his industry and busi- 
ness sagacity. The public press of the city 
gave words of warmest commendation upon his 
life and character, speaking of him as one of the 
leading and honored business men of the town. 
February 22, 1842, Mr. Bishop married 
Mary S. Howard, who was born in the town 
of Waterford, daughter of Daniel and Hannah 
(Smith) Howard. Her mother, who was born 
in Niantic, and was married February 22, 
1822, died when Mary S., the youngest of the 
children, was only two years and one-half old. 
The latter was brought up in the family of 
her uncle, Captain Jonathan Smith, who re- 
moved to New London when his niece was 
nine years old. She now lives in the fine 
large house built by her husband over fifty 
years ago. She has three children: Jonathan 
S. Bishop, residing at 2 Jay Street, married, 
and the father of one child; Henry Bishop, 
who succeeded his father in the lumber busi- 
ness; and Mary, the wife of Nathan Wood- 
worth, of New London, and the mother of 
three children. 




LVAH MORGAN, a prosperous farmer 
of Salem and a veteran of the Civil 
War, was born in the neighborhood 
of his present home, August 3, 1840, son of 
Sidney and Harriet (Stoddard) Morgan. His 
grandfather, Theophilus Morgan, a farmer of 
Groton, Conn., married Mary Hinckley, 
daughter of Abel Hinckley, of Stonington, 
and by her had a large family, of whom but 
two sons and four daughters lived to maturity. 
The eldest son, Alvah, born June 7, 1798, be- 



L 



BIOGRA I'F I [CAL R EV I EW 



355 



came a resident of Hoi ley, Orleans County, 
N.Y. lie married March 3, 1822, Dolly 
Stratton, of Glastonbury. In 1S32 he settled 
in Murray, Orleans Count}-, where he died 
March 1 1, [862, at the age of sixty-four years, 
leaving a wile and an only son, Alvah S. 
Morgan, who still resides in Holley. 

Sidney Morgan, the father of the subject oi 
this sketch, was born August 30, 1800. He 
occupied the old Morgan farm, which he sub- 
sequently sold to Aaron Niles in 1835 for the 
sum of eighty-five hundred dollars. He then 
['in, based a farm of three bundled acres in 
Salem, which he sold in 1857 for five thou- 
sand dollars. With this capital in hand, in 
company with his four sons, he went West, 
Mttling in Loda, Iroquois County, 111., where 
he bought si\ hundred and forty acres of land, 
and where his sons, Theophilus and Enoch, 
took up one section. With the exception of 
rheophilus, the entire family returned East 
in 1860. On his return Mr. Morgan pur- 
chased the farm oi two hundred and twenty 
acres adjoining the original homestead, where 
he lived until his death, which occurred March 
J 1, 1870. He was much in public life, fill- 
ing various town offices, and representing the 
town in tin- legislature three years, the last 
time in [866. Me was a Master Mason. 
["hough a member of the Episcopal church, he 
attended and helped to support the Congrega- 
tional church, and was a practical Christian 
philanthropist. February 27, 1823, he mar- 
ried Harriet Stoddard, who was born February 
28, 1802, daughter of Vine Stoddard. She 
survived him eleven years, and died April 15, 
[881, in the eightieth year of her age. Their 
children were as follows: Theophilus, who 
was born in 1823, accumulated a comfortable 
fortune, and retired from business, and is a 
widower with one son; John Wesley, who was 
born in 1821, and has been a merchant in 



New London for the past fifty years; Enoch 
Sidney, born in 1828, who is an engineer and 
machinist, residing in Mystic; and Albert 
Hinckley, who is a farmer and public-spirited 
citizen of Redwood County, Minnesota, where 
he holds the offices of Postmaster and Town 
Clerk. 

Alvah Morgan was reared upon his father's 
farm. He accompanied him West, and subse- 
quently returned with him. In August, [862, 
he enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Connecticut 
Regiment, Company A. Of the twenty-one 
young men who responded to their country's 
call at that time with Mr. Morgan, five lost 
their lives and eight were wounded. Mr. 
Morgan was wounded at Port Hudson, shot 
just below the knee by a minie ball, which he 
still carries in the bone. Another bullet 
marked his forehead. During this engage- 
ment fourteen of his comrades fell with him, 
four of whom were killed. He was dis- 
charged in August, 1863, and is now a pen- 
sioner. He married December 3, 1865, Sarah 
!•'.., daughter of Lyman and Betsey E. (Irish) 
Bailey. Her father, who was a farmer, dud 
in 1870, at the age of seventy-nine years; and 
her mother died in the same year, at the age 
of sixty-nine years. They had eight children, 
of whom Albert M. died October 10, [876, at 
the age of thirty-three years, leaving a widow. 
The living are as follows: Susan E., widow 
of Charles Tiffany; Charles H. ; Robert A.; 
Hattie G. ; Frances A., wife of Amos 15. Til- 
lotson ; Sarah E. (Mrs. Morgan); and Ben- 
jamin P. — all residents of Salem. 

Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Morgan 
have resided on their pleasant farm, which 
consists of two hundred and twenty acres of 
good land highly cultivated. Their poultry 
and butter bring the highesl prices in the 
market. A Democrat politically, Mr. Mor- 
gan has taken a prominent part in town affairs. 



35 6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



He served as Town Clerk and Treasurer four 
years in the seventies, and is now serving the 
third year on his second term. He has also 
been First Selectman, Assessor, a member of 
the Board of Education (for ten years), and 
was in the legislature in 1 891 and again in 
1895. He and his wife are both members of 
the Congregational church. 



/UTS, 



EORGE WASHINGTON ROGERS, 
\J^> I a retired boat -builder of New Lon- 
don, Conn., the son of William and 
Polly (Chapman) Rogers, was born in this 
city, October 21, 1815. He is a lineal de- 
scendant of James Rogers, who left England 
in 1635, a young man of twenty, crossed the 
Atlantic, and settled at first in Stratford, 
Conn., then in Milford, and at some time 
between 1656 and 1660 came to New London. 
Here James Rogers spent the rest of his life, 
a prosperous merchant engaged in the grain 
and flour business. He married Elizabeth 
l'olland, and built for their family residence 
a stone house near the old town mill, upon 
land that was given him by Governor Win- 
throp. They had five sons. 

George Rogers, grandfather of the subject 
of this sketch, was a cooper by trade. He 
served in the War of 18 12. lie was taken 
sick with billions fever, from which, however, 
he was recovering, when, the news of peace ar- 
riving, he was so elated that he went down 
street and took a cold that resulted in his 
death. He married February 14, 1755, Mary 
Tinker, and had four children, one daughter, 
who died in childhood, and three sons, two of 
whom, George and Josiah, were fishermen, the 
third being William, the father above named, 
who was born in New London, January 16, 
1792. He was a seafaring man, and served for 
many years as captain of a fast packet between 



New London and New York. He died Octo- 
ber 27, 1850, at the age of fifty-eight. His 
wife, Polly, whom he married December 25, 
1 8 14, died in 1876, at the age of eighty-four. 
She was a daughter of James Chapman, whose 
father, Major James Chapman, was one of the 
first volunteers in the Revolution, and re- 
ceived at the time a Captain's commission. 
Major Chapman was killed at the battle of 
Harlem Heights, while trying to rally the 
retreating soldiers. Dying, he bequeathed 
his sword, with the injunction never to dis- 
honor it, to his son, James Chapman, who 
served as drummer-boy in the same battle, 
and was with him when he fell. Polly Chap- 
man's mother was a daughter of Daniel Holt, 
who owned the place known as the Samuel 
Coit place, and was one of the old settlers. 
Mr. and Mrs. William Rogers had five chil- 
dren — George W., Mary Ann, Charlotte, 
William, and James. Mary Ann (deceased) 
was the wife of David Coit, and had five chil- 
dren. Charlotte's first husband was John 
Hegeman, a merchant of Brooklyn, N.Y. 
She had three children by this marriage; and 
by her second husband, John Comstock, also 
of Brooklyn, she had one child. William 
Rogers (deceased) married Adeline Haynes, 
of Niantic, and was the father of five children. 
James married Nancy H. Beckwith, of East 
Lyme, and had five children. 

George Washington Rogers, the special 
subject of this sketch, belongs to the eighth 
generation of the Rogers family in New Lon- 
don. He received his education in the public 
schools, and at the age of seventeen began the 
trade of boat-building, which he has followed 
for more than sixty years. He has the repu- 
tation of being the oldest boat-builder in New 
London, as well as one of the oldest inhabi- 
tants of the city. The house where he now 
lives he built in 1852. 




GEORGE \V. ROGERS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



359 



Mr. Rogers married Susan Geer Kwen, 
daughter of Captain John and Mary (Wilson) 
Ewen, who have lived in New London for 
over eighty years. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have 
two children: Mary K. , wife of Philo B. 
Hovey, of New London; and George \Y\, who 
is superintendent of supplies for the Metro 
politan Life Insurance Company of New York. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have belonged to the 
Baptist church in New London for sixty-four 
years, and Mr. Rogers has been a Master 
Mason for more than half a century. Mr. 
Rogers remembers the "Fulton," the first 
steamboat that ever came to New London. 

lie is a survivor of the wreck of the "At- 
lantic," which was sunk off Fisher's Island, 
with such a tremendous loss of life, November 
27, 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers celebrated 
their golden wedding the 16th of October, 
iSSS. They are still young in spirit, and 
delight to entertain their many friends with 
stories of interesting events which happened 
fifty years or more ago. 



'AMI'S BULKLEY, a farmer of Salem, 
son of James and Sarah Ann (Abell) 
Bulk ley, was born December 24, [838, 

on his lather's farm, now owned and occupied 
by himself and his brother Enoch. 

The original farm of one hundred acres was 
settled upon by his great-grandfather Bulkley, 
whose ancestors came from England. The 
house, though not the original dwelling on 
the place, has the old hewn rafters and tim- 
bers, and is one of the oldest buildings in the 
country. It is well preserved, and is substan- 
tial and somewhat modern in appearance- 
Prentice Bulkley, the grandfather of James 
Bulkley, fought in the War of 181 2. He was 
a descendant of Major Charles Bulkley, son of 
the Rev. John and Patience (Prentice) Bulk- 



ley, the former the first minister at Colches- 
ter. Prentice Bulkley married Dimis Holies, 
of (Goshen Society) Lebanon. lie died June 
4, 1849, at the age of seventy-four. She died 
June 12, 1865, aged seventy-nine years. 

The father, James Bulkley, was bom on the 
homestead, September 20, 1807. lie married 
Sarah A. Abell, who was born in Cob luster, 
June 20, 1807. The ceremony was performed 
by Dr. Nott in Franklin. James Bulkley, 
Sr., was a man ol sound judgment, strict in- 
tegrity, tender-hearted, showing always a 
strong sympathy lor the afflicted. He died 
much lamented by his family and greatly 
missed by the community in which he re- 
sided. His wile was a daughter 0! Hezekiah 
Abell and Eunice Hill, a descendant ol John 
and Dorothy Rill, who came from England 
and settled at Boston about [632, .Mrs. 
Bulkley was a lady oi more than ordinary re- 
finement, much energy, and decision ol 1 harac- 
ter. Active and diligent herself, she incul- 
cated the same principles in her children. 
Although living to a great age, she retained 
her youthful cheerfulness and mental abilities 
until the last. 

Of their bun' sons and two daughters the 
fourth-born died in infancy in 1N45, and two 
others in mature life. The surviving chil- 
dren are: Abbie, James, and Enoch. Abbie, 
witlow of George Miller, of Colchester, is now 
living at Gale's Ferry with her daughter 
Minnie, who married Frank Hurlbutt, an en- 
gineer, in 1886. Her other child, a son. 
George Miller, married Annie Foote, and 
lives on the homestead at Colchester. Lucy 
Adelia, wife of Enoch I!. Worthington, lived 
in ( lolchester, and died ( h tober io, 1 
without issue. Her death wa re afflic- 

tion to her relatives and many friends. Will- 
iam A. died March 13, [879, at the 
twenty-nine, unmarried. lie was a studenl -1 



3 6 ° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Bacon Academy, and taught a number of terms 
of school successfully. He was a member of 
the Salem Baptist Church and an active 
worker in the Sabbath-school. The father 
died March 2, 1878, aged seventy years, his 
widow surviving until February 16, 1894, 
when she died at the age of eighty-six. They 
lie beside the paternal grandparents in Lin- 
wood Cemetery in Colchester. 

The large farm of six hundred acres was 
inherited by the two brothers,. James and 
Enoch ; and both reside on the old .place. 
Each had a district schooling, and was reared 
to farm life. James Kulkley is a Democrat, 
and has served the town as Selectman for two 
terms and as a member of the Relief Board 
for three terms. The brothers are enterpris- 
ing and successful farmers. Besides tilling 
the soil, they get out lumber from the timber 
land upon the farm, keep a dairy of some fif- 
teen or twenty cows, Devon stock, and raise 
cattle, horses, ami sheep. They use six yoke 
of oxen on the place. 

Enoch Bolles Bulkley was born March 3, 
1841. He married November 15, 1870, Lucy 
J. Raymond, daughter of William ami Eunice 
B. Raymond, distant cousins. Richard Ray- 
mond, first of Salem, Mass., was made a free- 
man, May 14, 1634, and i n ] 6$6 was granted 
a tract of land, sixty acres in extent, at Jeffer- 
son Creek, now Manchester. He was a mari- 
ner, in the coast trade with the Dutch on 
Manhattan Island. He died in 1696. His 
third son, Joshua, went to New London, 
where he was a landholder, and was one of a 
committee to plan the road from Norwich to 
New London. Lor his services he received 
the nucleus of a tract of one thousand acres 
of land that was owned by his descendants. 
It is located eight miles from New London, and 
was known as the New London North Parish. 

He married in 1659 Elizabeth, daughter oi 



Nehemiah Smith, and had eight children, one 
being Joshua, who married Mercy, daughter of 
James Sands, of Block Island, and died in 
1704, his wife, Mercy, living till 1743. 
Their son, the third Joshua, was of Block 
Island and later of New London. He mar- 
ried in 1 7 19 Elizabeth, daughter of John and 
Elizabeth (Mulford) Christophers. She died 
May 12, 1730; and he died in 1763. John 
Raymond, one of the six children of Joshua 
and Elizabeth Raymond, was born in 1725, 
and married in 1747 Elizabeth, daughter of 
the Rev. George and Hannah (Lynde) Gris- 
wold. Their ten children were born in Mont- 
ville. The eldest, John, second, was Lieu- 
tenant under Colonel Whitney in the French 
and Indian War, and was stationed at Fort 
Griswold. He marched to Boston in 1775, 
and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. 
He died May 7, 1789, at the age of eighty- 
four years in Montville, where he lies buried. 
His wife died of small-pox in 1779, at the 
age of fifty. 

John Raymond, third, son of the second 
John, and the paternal great-grandfather of 
Mis. Bulkley, served as First Lieutenant 
under General Spencer from 1776 to 1777. 
He married in Montville, May 26, 1774, 
Mercy Raymond, a cousin. Their three chil- 
dren were: William, Nathan, and Mary. 
William, born May 3, 1778, married June 22, 
1800, Elizabeth Manwaring. He died July 
29, 1842. His wife died in 1854. Their 
children were: Mercy, Richard, and William 
(Mrs. Bulkley's father). He was born April 
21, 1806. He married July 5, 1829, Eunice 
Burnham Raymond, and settled on Raymond 
Hill, where the family had lived for several 
generations. They had six children, of whom 
they lost two infant sons. The four daugh- 
ters were: Elizabeth, Eunice A., Adelaide 
L. , and Lucy J. Elizabeth married Allison 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



36i 



B. I. add, and died childless, April 14, 1N72; 
Eunice Ann married Calvin Allyn, resided in 
Norwich, and died April [9, 1896; Adelaide 
I.., who married Henry W. Rogers, died 
in Montville, April 4, 1X74. leaving one 
daughter, Lena A., wife of W. C. Hogaboom, 
of Los Angeles, Oil., an editor, connected 
with the Associated Press. 

Lucy J. (Mrs. Bulkley), the youngest child, 
was educated in the best schools of her native 
town. She taught her first school at the age 
of sixteen, and continued teaching until her 
marriage. Mrs. Bulkley has a valuable heir- 
loom, which has been handed down from Eng- 
land through the Lynde family. It is a silver 
mug or tankard which was presented by 
en Elizabeth to a member of the family, 
and is inscribed "F. M. \Y. I. E. Francis 
and Margaret Willoughby and H. R.," the 
latter initials being those of a great-aunt, 
Hannah Raymond. This ancient treasure was 
owned by Sarah Lynde, the second wife of 
Joshua Raymond, and her sister Hannah, who 
married the Rev. George Griswold, and was 
handed down to John Raymond, and from him 
through Hannah to George Raymond, from 
whom it passed to the mother of Mrs. Bulk- 
ley. She is also in possession of the original 
manuscript deed given by Mercy Sands Ray- 
mond, of Block Island, June 24, 1725, to her 
son Joshua. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Enoch B. 
Bulkley may be briefly mentioned, as follows: 
James Raymond Bulkley, died April 25, 1876; 
Sarah Burnham, born March 16, 1879, an 
undergraduate of the Bacon Academy, a mem- 
ber of the class of 1899, is a young lady of 
promise, with fine intellectual endowments and 
studious habits ; Willie Enoch, born June 25, 
1881, is a brilliant scholar, and will graduate 
in 1900 from the same school ; Arthur Jewett 
died at the age of sixteen months, July 8, 1887. 



^ATILAX DENNISON 1! ATI'S, a re- 
tired business man and owner of real 

- N^ - estate in Preston, Conn., was born 
in the adjoining town of Griswold, New Lon- 
don County, November 13, 1829, son of Ben- 
jamin and Elizabeth (Hawkins) Bates. He 
is a descendant of Caleb Pairs, of Scituate, 
Mass., who removed to Kingston, R.I.,in 1701, 
settling in what is now Exeter. The family 
name was formerly Bate, the present form hav- 
ing been adopted within the last hundred years. 

Nichols Bates, the grandfather of Mr. 
Bates of Preston, was born in Exeter about 
the year 1775, and died in 1845. His wife, 
Susanna Wethers, who belonged to a family 
ol French Huguenots, and was born in 1777, 
survived him ten years, and died in 1S55. 
Their children were: Benjamin, Nichols, 
John, Silas, Daniel, Arnold, and three daugh- 
ters, all of whom had families. Nichols 
Bates, Jr., went to Ohio, where many of his 
descendants now live. 

Benjamin Bates, the father of Nathan D. , 
was a shoemaker by trade. In 1827 he re- 
moved from Rhode Island to the town of 
Griswold. He married Elizabeth Hawkins, 
of South Kingston, R.I., in 1817. Her 
ancestor. Captain Thomas Hawkin, settled 
in Dorchester in 1630. He was a member 
of the London Artillery Company and of the 
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company 
of Boston, and was in charge of the big guns 
at Savin Hill, Dorchester. His son, Richard 
Hawkins, removed from Boston to Ports- 
mouth, R.I. ; Christopher, the second son, 
settled in Kingston, R.I.: and Thomas, from 
whom Mrs. Bates descended, married Ann 
Torrey, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Torrey, 
of Tower Hill, R.I. Captain William Tor- 
rey, who came to New England in 1632 and 
settled at Weymouth, Mass., was for many 
years a Representative to the General Court, 



3 6z 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



and served as Clerk of the house. Johnson, 
the historian of Massachusetts, says he was 
famed for his fine penmanship. His son, 
the Rev. Samuel Torrey, was invited in 
1686, it is said, to the presidency of Har- 
vard College, President Oakes having died 
in 1 68 1, and his immediate successor, John 
Rogers, in 16S4. This honor Mr. Torrey 
declined, but he was a fellow of the cor- 
poration from 1697 to 1705. He was pastor 
of the church at Weymouth fifty-one years, 
and preached the election sermon in Boston 
in 1674, 16S3, and 1689. He married Mary 
Rawson, daughter of Sir Edward Rawson, 
who was Secretary of the Colony of Massa- 
chusetts and Clerk of the Probate Court of 
Suffolk County. Benjamin and Elizabeth 
(Hawkins) Bates had four children: Henry, a 
machinist and mechanical engineer, who died 
in i860, at the age of forty-two years; Nich- 
ols B., a marine engineer, who died at 
Ulysses, Neb., in 1887, at the age of sixty- 
seven: Hannah H., who married Isaac P. 
Sims, ami died at sixty-three years of age; 
and Nathan D., who lives in Preston. The 
mother died in November, 1865; and the 
father died in June, 18S1. The eldest son 
was a member of the firm of Cranston & Bates, 
of Norwich, manufacturers of engine boilers 
and general machinery, also a member of the 
New London Foundry and Machine Company. 
He was a fine mechanic, and inventor of and 
patentee on stem valves and a bomb lance for 
taking whales, as well as of a new steam gauge. 
Naturally an investigator, he made and owned 
one of the largest telescopes in the United 
States, the instrument in Harvard University 
Observatory being then the only larger one. 

Nathan D. Bates acquired his elementary 
education in the little, old brown school- 
house in his native district, afterward pursu- 
ing his studies two terms in the village select 



school. At the age of sixteen years he started 
out for himself on a tin pedler's cart, and six 
months later he was employed for a short 
time in running a stationary engine at Wes- 
terly, R.I. He then learned the machinist's 
trade, and in 1848 took the position of ma- 
chinist and engineer with Cranston & Bates, 
of Norwich, Conn. Four years later he be- 
came fireman of the steam ferry-boat which 
carried cars across the Connecticut River; 
and in 1853 he went as fireman again with 
his brother Nichols, then the engineer on the 
"Agawam," plying between Sag Harbor and 
Greenport. In June of that year he ob- 
tained a United States license as engineer, 
and early in 1854 he became his brother's 
successor on the "Agawam," as master en- 
gineer. During the summer he went to Prov- 
idence as engineer of an excursion steamer, 
the "Blackstone." After that he was in dif- 
ferent ways engaged in business until the 
breaking out of the war, when he was ap- 
pointed chief engineer of the United States 
Navy, and served on the steamship "Hetsel," 
the "Hatteras," the monitor "Nantucket," 
and the steamship "Dawn." From the latter 
he was transferred to the prize ship "Princess 
Royal,'" which he took from Port Royal to 
Philadelphia. After a short leave of absence 
given him on account of his state of health, 
he was ordered to the Boston navy yard as 
chief engineer of the "Mercideti," in which 
he went to the West India Islands. His last 
period of service was at the Philadelphia navy 
yard. He left the United States Navy in 
1864, and was variously occupied in connec- 
tion with his profession, finally forming a part- 
nership with Elijah J. Green, under the firm 
name of Bates & Co. The firm dissolved in 
1871; and Mr. Bates continued in business 
alone until the spring of 1878, when he retired. 
He was elected Sheriff in 1877, and was in 



BIOGR U'lIlCAI. RKV1KW 



363 



office from 1878 until 1881, being the second 
Democratic Sheriff of the county. He was 
made an elector, April, 1S51, and was 
elected Constable that year. Appointed Jus- 
ii the Peace in [864, he served in that 
capacity lor eighteen years. He has been a 
Selectman and Trial Justice, and has repre- 
sented his town at the General Assembly. 
He was a County Commissioner for three 
years, 1874-77, and in 1886 was appointed 
by Grover Cleveland United States Marshal, 
which office he ably filled for tour years; 
and has held many other honorable positions 
in service of State, county, or town. He be- 
longs to the Sons of the American Revolution, 
and was Second Lieutenant oi the Fourth Rifle 
ipany, Third Regiment, Quarter-master of 
the Third Regiment, and held the rank of Ma- 
jor as Aide-de-camp to Major-general James 
J. McCord. Mr. Bates also served in the fire 
department for three years. 

It was in the fall of 1854 that he married 
Sarah Emily Nickerson, daughter of Thomas 
H. and Susan (Currin) Nickerson, of Sag 
Harbor, the nuptials taking place November 
15. They began domestic life at Preston 
City, and, with the exception ot a year at 
Mystic Bridge, made that city their home 
until 1.871. Mrs. Sarah K. Hates died Au- 
gust 21, 1893, at the age of fifty-eight. She 
left two children — Addison G. and Katherine 
Browning Hates. Addison G. Hates is fore- 
man of the sewer department in Providence. 
He married Minnie H. Ilille, of Harvard, la., 
and has two daughters — Grace Land Laura 
Nickerson. Katherine Browning Bates is the 
wile of John 1-'. Bennett, of Huston, and has 
one son, Henry Bates Bennett, a bright boy 
about twelve years old. 

Mr. Hates married second, April 3, 1S95, 
Sophia A. Council, of Preston, daughter of 
Joseph and Sophia Bromley Connell. 




LIJAH A. MORGAN, who has been an 
ice dealer in Old Mystic, Stonington, 
for thirty-seven years was horn in 
Centre Groton, Conn., August it, 1836. 
His father, Elijah B. Morgan, who was born 
in Groton, near New London, in 1809, in 
early youth went to sea, serving as ship's boy. 
Elijah B. rose steadily, and in [843 held the 
position of captain in the old ship "Herald" 
of Stonington. He was concerned wholly 
with whaling vessels, except during the period 
between 1849 and 1851, when he was in Cali- 
fornia, to which he had gone by way of the 
Straits of Magellan. He was a mate with 
Captain George Brewster, of Stonington, and 
a sailor with Captain Billings Burch. His 
first marriage was contracted with Mary Per- 
kins, whose only child was Elijah A., and who 
died in 184 1. His second marriage united 
him to Jane M., daughter ol the Rev. John 
G. Wightman, a prominent and able Baptist 
minister. She survives him, and is now an 
active lady. She had five children. She 
spends portions ol her time with three ot 
them, namely: John C. Fremont Morgan, of 
Elroy, Wis.; Anna, the wile of Charles 
Chapman, residing near Centre Groton; and 
Myron Morgan, of Norwich. Captain Mor- 
gan, while in command of the ship "Contest" 
of New Bedford, off the coast oi Brazil, died 
suddenly of heart-disease in [861. He 
been a prosperous man, and left a very com- 
fortable competency. 

The early boyhood ot Elijah A. Morgan 
wis passed in Groton, attending the common 
school. At the age of fourteen lie went with 
his father on a t\\ voyage to Desolation 

Island, afterward called Berghland's Lands, 
which was discovered by Captain Cooke. 
Later he spent a year in the Suffield (Conn.) 
Literary Institute. Then, lor a tew months, 
he was in business at the Fulton Market, 



3 6 4 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



New York City. In 1852 he came to Old 
Mystic to close out a stock of goods. During 
the next eight years he kept a store. In 
i860 he started in the ice business, which he 
has followed since, supplying the Mystic 
valley people with ice, and putting up about 
fifteen hundred tons. In 1873 he erected one 
of the finest dwellings in Mystic, and it has 
been a most pleasant home for the family ever 
since. He has a well-built barn and sheds, 
and keeps six horses. 

Mr. Morgan is a Master Mason. He has 
been twice in the State legislature, has been 
County Commissioner for six years and Se- 
lectman for seven years. He was First Se- 
lectman in the first year of the time he has 
served in the latter capacity. In 1858 he 
married Mary F., daughter of Daniel and 
Mary (Heath) Davis, the latter now living in 
Clinton, Conn. Mrs. Morgan died in 1886, 
leaving two of her three children. These are: 
Elijah D. Morgan, of New York City; and 
Fannie M. , who is the wife of John E. Hart, 
of Elroy, Wis., and has two children — Jean- 
ette and Raymond. In 1888 Sarah Lawton, 
of Newport, R.I., became Mr. Morgan's sec- 
ond wife. The offspring of this marriage is 
Earle, a bright boy of seven years. Mr. Mor- 
gan is a Methodist and an official in the 
church. In politics he is a Republican. He 
is one of the leading residents, is agreeable 
and genial in his business relations as well as 
in his social life, and he is devoted to his 
family. 



--«-•••-*— 




LIAS WILLIAMS, a practical and pro- 
gressive agriculturist of Stonington, 
Conn., was born January 19, 1830, 
not far from Mystic village, on the farm 
where he now resides, which formerly be- 
longed to his Stanton ancestors. He is of 
the eighth generation to own this estate, and 



has in his possession a deed dated January 2, 
1656, given to Thomas Stanton, an early 
colonist, by a Mr. Beebe, no price or compen- 
sation for the property being mentioned in 
the deed, which was written by Thomas Stan- 
ton. The deed was recorded in the Stoning- 
ton book of records for land (in folio four), 
June 22, 1704, Elnathan Miror, recorder. 
Mr. Williams's grandfather, Elias Williams, 
first, who was a native of Stonington, was a 
seafaring man, and was a master mariner for 
some years. He married Thankful Stanton, 
and died, while yet a young man, in i8ro, in 
North Carolina, leaving her with four chil- 
dren, two of them sons; namely, William 
Stanton Williams and Joseph Stanton Will- 
iams. The former, who was born in 1800, 
lived in this locality until 1830, when he fol- 
lowed the tide of emigration Westward, going 
as far as the Territory of Michigan. He set- 
tled there, but did not live many years, his 
death occurring in 1834. He left a widow 
and one daughter, both of whom have passed 
to the life beyond. Mrs. Thankful Stanton 
Williams, who was the daughter of William 
and Hannah (Williams) Stanton and grand- 
daughter of John Williams, of Mystic village, 
lived a widow for more than half a century, 
dying during the late Civil War, in her native 
town, past fourscore years of age. 

Joseph Stanton Williams succeeded to the 
ownership of the ancestral homestead, where 
he was born in March, 1802, and where he 
spent his long life of eighty-six years, his 
death occurring on February 21, 1889. A 
wise and willing worker, he toiled early and 
late in clearing the land and placing it in a 
state of cultivation. He made many substan- 
tial improvements, among others being the 
erection in 1830, some six years after his 
marriage, of the present dwelling-house, which 
stands on the site of the original residence. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



36S 



In 1824 he married Miss Julia A. Gallup, of 
Ledyard, a daughter of Christopher Gallup, 
whose wife was .1 Mrs. Prentiss, bom Stan- 
ton. Eight children were born of their 
union, namely: Joseph Stanton, who died in 
1834, aged eight years; William, who went, to 
California in 1849, was fairly successful as a 
miner during the four years he spent on the 
Pacific coast, and died in 1857, leaving a 
widow and one daughter; Klias, the special 
subject of this brief sketch; Julia, wife oi 
Salmon C. Foote, of Mystic; Joseph Stanton, 
ill Mystic; Charles, who died at Mystic in 
1865, leaving his widow with two sons and a 
daughter; Warren, who died in Stonington in 
1 868, unmarried; and Ellen G., who lived hut 
twelve years. The mother died in May, [883, 
aged seventy-six years. Both parents were 
devoted members of the Congregational 
church. Their bodies were laid to rest in 
Elm Grove Cemetery, which is beautifully 
located between the river and highway. 
(Further ancestral history may be found in 
connection with the sketch of Joseph S. Will- 
iams.) 

Elias Williams was reared to man's estate 
on the home farm, receiving his education in 
the district school ; and for four or five years 
thereafter he was engaged in carrying on a 
meat market. In 1856 he embarked in the 
lumber business in Canada; but subsequently 
he went West, locating first in Dubuque, la., 
and later in St. Louis, Mo., where he re- 
mained five years oul oi the fifteen that he 
was away. During the Rebellion he was em- 
ployed by the government as wagon master, 
being in Missouri, Arkansas, and New Mex- 
ico. After the war he was one of the survey- 
ing party that accompanied General Palmer 
through to California. In 18711 Mr. Williams 
returned to the scenes of his childhood days, 
and has since carried on general farming with 



most satisfactory pecuniary results, the tine 
appearance of the homestead property giving 
evidence of his wise management and thrift. 

On February 26, 1885, Mr. Williams mar- 
ried Miss Sarah Palmer, daughter of Randall 
and Mary A. (Holmes) Browne, of Stoning- 
ton. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are both mem- 
bers of the Mystic Congregational Church, in 
which he is Deacon; and both are active 
workers in the denomination. Mr. Williams 
is an active Republican in his political affili- 
ations, and has served as chairman of the 
Town Republican Committee for twenty years, 
being also chairman of the Senatorial Com- 
mittee. He has always been a useful and in- 
fluential citizen, and has filled various posi- 
tions of trust. He represented Stonington in 
the State legislature, and was re-elected in 
1896. lie has also served as Justice of the 
Peace and as Grand Juror. 

The foresight and generosity of this public- 
spirited citizen are strikingly evidenced by 
his recent gift, in November, 1897, of two 
acres of the ancestral estate covered by the 
above-mentioned deed of two hundred and 
forty-two years ago to the Mystic Industrial 
Company, which was organized with a capital 
of thirty thousand dollars, to erect a plant, 
one hundred and sixty-two by one hundred 
and fifty-one feet, with boiler-room twenty by 
forty feet, for the manufacturing of textile 
fabrics, or a velvet mill, the property being 
leased to the Rossie Brothers, of German}'. 
A thousand dollars would not have induced 
Mr. Williams to sell the land lor house lots, 
but to establish a new business and promote 
the prosperity of his native town he was will- 
ing to part with it without price. The ad- 
vantages that the place will derive from the 
new industry may be inferred from the facl 
that employment will be given to from five hun- 
dred to six hundred persons, men and women. 



3 66 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 




HOMAS B. ALEXANDER, a well- 
known contractor of New London, was 
born in North Groton, Conn., in 1836, 
son of Thomas Jefferson and Mary Ann 
(Miner) Alexander. The father, a native of 
the same town, was a sea captain, making 
voyages between New York and Appalachi- 
cola. He died at the last-named place in 
early manhood of small-pox, leaving a widow, 
who still lives in Ledyard, Conn., at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-six years, and two chil- 
dren — Thomas B. and Mary. Mary married 
John Williams, of Ledyard. 

Thomas B. Alexander was reared on the 
home farm, and acquired his education in the 
common schools. He subsequently went to 
Rhode Island, where he worked for some time 
in a woollen-mill. Still later he came to 
New London, and engaged in his present 
business, in which he has been quite success- 
ful. In politics he affiliates with the Repub- 
lican party, and has been six times appointed 
Street Commissioner for terms of one year 
each. On October 14, 1855, he married 
Frances A. Hempstead, daughter of Edward 
and Fannie (Whittlesey) Hempstead. Mrs. 
Alexander's great - great - grandparents were 
Joshua and Lydia (Burch) Hempstead, both of 
whom lived and died in New London. Her 
great-great-grandfather Joshua was born here 
in the old historic Hempstead House, which is 
still occupied by one of the family. Edward 
Hempstead, the grandfather, was a native of 
Stonington, Conn. Mrs. Alexander's father 
was a farmer, who died in middle life. Her 
mother lived a widow many years, dying at 
the advanced age of eighty-three. They had 
ten children, all of whom lived to grow up, 
marry, and rear families. Seven of the num- 
ber are still living, namely: Sarah, wife of 
A. J. Bliven, of Colorado; Eunice Crary, now 
the wife of William Cranston, of New Lon- 



don; Henry S., of Waterford, Conn.; Hiram, 
a resident of Ledyard; Mary Anne, wife of 
William Hancock, of Mystic; Simeon, who 
resides at Clarke Falls Corner, R.I. ; and 
Frances A., now Mrs. Alexander. The sub- 
ject of this sketch has one daughter, Jennie 
A., who was graduated with honor, at the age 
of seventeen, at the Young Ladies' High 
School, before it became the Williams Me- 
morial. She married Stanley A. Smith, a 
yard-master of the Central Vermont Railroad. 
She is a member of the Daughters of the 
American Revolution, and traces her ancestry 
back, maternally, to Sir Robert Hempstead, 
and paternally to John Alden of the "May- 
flower." In 1888 Mr. Alexander built his 
present fine residence at 29 North Main 
Street. 



(sTr-LBERT W. PERKINS, the leading 
fcA dry-goods merchant of Noank, in the 
•^ " V^^ town of Groton, was born here, Oc- 
tober 3, 1835, son of Sevilian and Lucy B. 
(Potter) Perkins. His paternal grandfather 
was Phineas, a farmer, who took part in the 
action at Groton Heights during the Revolu- 
tionary War. Sevilian Perkins, who was 
born in Groton in 1808, was a sailor and fish- 
erman. In 1849 he went with a party to 
California, where he was engaged in specu- 
lating for a few years. Returning subse- 
quently to Connecticut, he bought a fishing 
sloop, in which he went after cod to George's 
Banks. His wife, in maidenhood Lucy B. 
Potter, and a native of Noank, was a descend- 
ant of one of the oldest families in this 
county. She became the mother of nine chil- 
dren, seven sons and two daughters, all of 
whom grew to mature years, married, and had 
families, there being at the present time 
twenty-five living grand-children. The six 
children now living are widely scattered, some 




ALBERT W. PERKINS. 



. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



3<>9 



ni them having homes in the West. The 
mother died at the age of forty-two years, and 
the father at seventy-one years. They were 
interred in Noank cemetery. 

When but ten years old Albert W. Perkins 
began to accompany his father on his fishing 
and coasting expeditions, and lie subsequently 
continued in this employment for twenty-four 
years. On April 1, 1S70, he began mercan- 
tile business in his present store. He carries 
a good assortment of general dry goods and 
notions, and has been very successful. The 
busy little village of Noank counts him as 
one of her most substantial and reliable busi- 
ness men. 

On January 22, 185S, Mr. Perkins married 
Miss Julia Avery Burrows, of Groton Bank, 
and a (laughter of Austin and Almira (Hill) 
Burrows. Her mother is a daughter of Moses 
Hill, whose father, Samuel B. Hill, was 
among the slain at the battle of Groton 
Heights. Austin Burrows died in 1892, 
aged eighty-one years, leaving a son and two 
daughters. Six children have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, namely: Lucy, wife 
11I Charles I. Fitch, of Noank, and the mothi r 
i'f tour children; C. C. Perkins, a prominent 
merchant in New London, Conn. ; Myra, wife 
of Otto W. Monroe, of Providence, R.I., and 
the mother of three children ; Warren C. Per- 
kins, who married Flora Stanton, of Stoning- 
ton, Conn., resides in that place, and has one 
daughter; Albert W., Jr., sixteen years old, 
who attends school and assists his father in 
the store; and Abbie 1L, two years younger, 
who also is attending school. 

Mr. Perkins i> a loyal supporter of the 
Republican party, and lias served the town in 
minor offices. He is a Master Mason, and 
the first charter member of the A. O. U. W. 
oi Noank, now Mystic. He is a member of 
the historic Baptist church in Noank. About 



the time of his marriage he built a hi. use, but 
sold it three years later, and moved into his 
present residence at 58 Main Street, in which 
he and his wife have spent thirty-seven oi the 
forty years of their married life. 



D 



ANIEL K. LOOSLEY, the oldest 
newsdealer and stationer of New 
London, where he began in the 
business nearly thirty years ago, is a native 
of England. He was born January 11, 1833, 
son of William and Ann (Rogers) Loosley. 
William Loosley died in England, when about 
forty years of age. His widow was an octo- 
genarian wdien she died in 1893. They had 
twelve children, of whom three sons and eight 
daughters grew to maturity. 

Daniel R. Loosley left England for Amer- 
ica in a sailing-vessel when a youth of six- 
teen or seventeen years. When he landed in 
Philadelphia, he had only a small amount of 
cash; but, having received a good common- 
school education, he was aide to secure a po- 
sition as clerk, and he followed that occupa- 
tion some five years. From Philadelphia he 
drifted to Boston, where in 1S55 he enlisted 
in the regular army. In his twelve years' 
service he rose in the regular order of promo- 
tion to the rank of Captain, which he held for 
three years; and he was a commissioned officer 
some five years. His first active service wis 
on the North-west coast at Puget Sound. 
When the "Star of the West" went to Fort 
Sumter, he was one of the two hundred men 
aboard, of whom, so far as is known, he is the 
only survivor. Later he was in the Army of 
the Potomac, with which he participated in 
some fort)- engagements, escaping without in- 
jury or capture. Before he resigned, in 1867, 
he was brevetted Major. Soon after he came 
to New London, and established his present 



37° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 




business at 110 State Street, where he has 
been in trade for twenty-eight years. In pol- 
itics he is a stanch Republican. 

In 1864 Mr. Loosley was married in this 
city to Miss Jeanette Crandall, a daughter of 
Joshua and Emeline (Tinker) Crandall, both 
of whom are now deceased. Of his four chil- 
dren, two sons died in infancy, and Frederick 
died when eight years of age. The only 
daughter, Louise, is a graduate of the Young- 
Ladies' High School of this city, and has also 
received a musical education. Mr. and Mrs. 
Loosley and their daughter are members of 
the Episcopal church. They reside at 19 
Brainard Street, in the house which he built 
twenty years ago. 

<^»»> 

'AMUEL H. CHESEBRO, a pros- 
perous grocer of Stonington, was 
born in his present home on De- 
cember 8, 1838. His parents, Samuel and 
Harriet (Pollard) Chesebro, were of English 
ancestry. The family commenced with Will- 
iam Chesebrough, who. was born in England 
in 1594- In 1620 he was married in Boston, 
Lincolnshire, England, to Anna Stevenson. 
They undoubtedly came hither with the Gov- 
ernor Winthrop party, as his name is enrolled 
in the membership of the First Church in Bos- 
ton, Mass.; while his mother, Sarah Chese- 
brough, was the seventy-eighth member of 
the same church. Pie removed to Mount 
Wollaston, now Ouincy, Mass., where he 
owned a valuable estate. He served as Con- 
stable, and was one of sixteen freemen elected 
under the order of the Court in May, 1632, 
that "there shall be two of every plantation 
to confer with the Court about raising a public 
stock." This measure is recorded by Prince, 
with the remark, "And this seems to pave the 
way for a House of Representatives in the 
General Court." In October, 1640, he was 



the Deputy of Braintree. Later he was Gov- 
ernor Trumbull's first planter in Stonington, 
Conn., to which he came from Rehoboth, 
Mass., in 1649. At that time Stonington 
was part of New London. He was several 
times a Deputy to the General Court in Hart- 
ford. His son, Samuel, first, was baptized in 
Boston, England, in 1627. Samuel, second, 
the next in line of descent, born November 
20, 1660, had a son Joseph, who was baptized 
April 12, 1703. Joseph's son, Samuel, third, 
the grandfather of the subject of this biog- 
raphy, was born March 25, 1743. He married 
Submit Palmer, of this town; and they had 
seven sons and six daughters, all of whom 
grew to maturity. Rhoda died first, at the 
age of eighteen. The other twelve children 
all married, and are scattered. Jesse, the eld- 
est, went to New York State, settling in Man- 
lius, Onondaga County, in 1788. He mar- 
ried, became the father of thirteen children, 
and died June 24, 1830, at the age of sixty- 
five. Samuel, third, died September 9, 181 1. 
His widow, who survived him until 1835, 
reached the advanced age of ninety-one. 
They were highly respected members of the 
Baptist church. 

Samuel Chesebro, fourth, the youngest 
child of the third Samuel, was born in Ston- 
ington, November 25, 1788. In early life he 
worked at clock and wagon making in Glas- 
tonbury and Marlboro, Conn. He was a car- 
penter and builder for a number of years, and 
lie was also engaged in the grocery business 
for twenty-one years. In politics he affiliated 
with the Democratic party. He was officially 
prominent, serving as Selectman and Repre- 
sentative, going to the legislature in 1832 
and 1836. His first wife, whose maiden name 
was Sally Robinson, was born in July, 1799. 
They were married December 25, 18 14. She 
died April 30, 1830, leaving six children, 



HIOCRAI'HICAL RF.V1KW 



37> 



namely: John R. , of this city; Dudley R., 
who died here in 1879, at tin- age of sixty- 
one; Ann E. Ashby, a resident of this city; 
Frances M., now the widow Dickinson, who 
resides with her hall-brother, Samuel H.; 
Samuel, who died at the age of live; and 
Sarah Jane, now the widow Wolfe, of Mystic. 
On December 5, 1830, a second marriage 
united the father to Harriet Pollard, who was 
born in Preston, Conn., on August 3, 1796. 
She had four children, of whom Samuel II., 
th.' subject of this sketch, grew to maturity. 
She died December II, 1855. On March 19, 
1857, I.vdia Fellows became the third wile of 
the fourth Samuel Chesebro. Born March 5, 
1790, she died in 1881. llis death occurred 
in [858. 

After acquiring a common-school education, 
Samuel II. Chesebro began to serve as clerk 
in his father's grocery store when he was thir- 
teen years of age. His present place of busi- 
ness, which was erected by his father in 1836, 
when the ground about it was a rough pasture, 
is now in the central part ol the business dis- 
trict. In politics Mr. Chesebro is a Demo- 
crat. Like his worth}' lather, he has been a 
prominent office-holder. In 1871, 1877, and 
187S he served the town as Selectman. He 
was Warden of the borough in 1892 and 1894, 
alter which he declined re-election. In 1874 
he was a legislative Representative. He has 
been the president of the Stonington Building 
Company since its organization in 1892. 

On September 26, 1865, Mr. Chesebro was 
married to Lucretia Maria Babcock, a daugh- 
ter of Elias and Lueretia (Davis) Babcock. 
Her lather, who was a farmer and a merchant, 
dieil March 19, 188 1, at the age of seventy- 
five. Her mother, who was born June 22, 
181S, and is still living, lost an infant daugh- 
ter and her son, Klias Babcock, Jr., who 
served in the Civil War, and died in 1888, at 



the age of forty-three. Mrs. Chesebro was a 
pupil of Mrs. Draper, of Hartford. She sub- 
sequently studied music at the Music Vale 
Seminary, and became a proficient teacher. 
Mr. and Mrs. Chesebro have only one child, 
Pauline, a young lady who is still under the 
paternal roof. 

YgTON. JOHN BREWSTER, now living 
f^H in retirement at the old Brewster 

J-® V „ homestead in Ledyard, Conn., was 

born in the adjoining town of Preston, May 

13, 1 8 1 6, son of John and Mary (Morgan 1 
Brewster. He is descended from the distin- 
guished Pilgrim leader, William Brewster, 
"the excellent Cider of Plymouth," whose son 
Jonathan was the first Town Clerk of New 
London. 

Jabez Brewster, the father of John, Sr. , 
was a native New London County farmer. 
He had four sons and one daughter. The 
latter was the wife of Jeremiah S. Halsey (de- 
ceased). John Brewster, Sr., born in Pres- 
ton, December 15, 1782, died November 12, 
1848, at nearly sixty- six years of age. He 
had been to the polls only a few days before 
and voted for President and Vice-President of 
the United States. In 1820 he bought and 
settled on this farm, then the Captain Israel 
Morgan farm. His marriage with Mary Mor- 
gan was solemnized February 6, 1806. She 
was born in this house, and was a daughter of 
Captain Israel and Elizabeth (Brewster) Mor- 
gan. Her father was a son of William 
.Morgan and a lineal descendant ol James 
Morgan, born in Wales in C><>7, who settled 
in Pecpiot, now New London, about 1652. 
Captain Israel Morgan departed this life on 
June 4, 1816, his death being accidental, 
caused by choking. John, Sr. , and Mary 
(Morgan) Brewster had three sons and a 
daughter, three of whom have passed away. 



372 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



The daughter, who married a Crary, left a 

family. 

John Brewster, the only survivor of the 
family, grew to manhood on this place, and 
here brought his bride shortly after their mar- 
riage. The farm, which is about four miles 
from Norwich, contains one hundred and forty 
acres; and he keeps from fourteen to twenty 
cows, besides horses, sheep, hogs, and other 
stock. The house is nearly two hundred years 
old. A new barn was built here twenty-five 
years ago, but about fifteen years later was 
struck by lightning, and with its contents was 
a total loss. The one now standing, which is 
a fine modern structure, sixty feet long by 
thirty wide, was built in 1891. 

When eighteen years old, Mr. Brewster en- 
listed in the Rifle Company, which was made 
up largely of Groton and Stonington boys; and 
during his six or seven years' membership he 
rose by regular promotion to the captaincy. 
He was subsequently honorably retired, and 
has ever since been known as Captain Brews- 
ter. In addition to carrying on his farm, 
during the past twenty-five years he has been 
a wool buyer in company with L. W. Cornell: 
and for the past three years he has been buyer 
for the Yantic Wool Company. In the capac- 
ity of appraiser, trustee, or administrator he 
has also often assisted in settling estates, 
some of them requiring the handling of large 
amounts of property and involving knotty ami 
troublesome problems, of which the solution 
was only reached after years of anxious care. 
But, even with such difficulties attending his 
duties in such cases, he has never charged 
more than a nominal fee for his services. As 
a man of broad intelligence and sound judg- 
ment, honest, kind-hearted, and generous to 
a fault, he commands the esteem and confi- 
dence of the community. 

On April 2, 1840, Mr. Brewster was mar- 



ried to Miss Mary E. Williams, daughter of 
Dennison B. Williams, of Stonington. Mrs. 
Brewster, who is almost seventy-nine years 
old, was the eldest-born of nine children,- 
eight of whom grew to mature years; but only 
two are now living, the other being her sister 
Eunice, wife of Richard Roberts, of Brooklyn, 
N.Y., twelve years younger. Five children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brewster; 
namely, a daughter who died at the age 
of eighteen months, John Dennison, Fanny 
Halsey, Phebe Esther, and Frank William. 
John Dennison died in 1894, aged fifty years, 
leaving a son and daughter: Clara Brewster, a 
young lady of eighteen; and Arthur Morgan 
Brewster, two years younger — both of whom 
live with their mother in Norwich. Fanny, 
the wife of Thomas II. Geer, of Cleveland, 
Ohio, has one daughter, Mary Brewster. 
Phebe Esther is the wife of Benjamin F. 
Lewis, Jr., in Norwich. Frank W. Brewster 
has charge of the home farm and a milk route 
in the villages of Poquetanock ami Hal lville. 
lie married Mary Brown, daughter of L. R. 
and lilizabeth Brown, and has two children: 
Hannah Elizabeth, twelve years old: and 
Phoebe Esther, nine years old. 

Captain Brewster is a stanch Republican. 
He has for several years held the office of Se- 
lectman, First and Second, and has served 
some years as Judge and Clerk of the Probate 
Court. In 1S60 and in 18S5-86 he was a 
member of the Connecticut Senate. He had 
previously served three terms, 1847, 185 1, and 
1878, in the lower house of the legislature. 
For twelve years he was president of the Mer- 
chants' National Bank of Norwich ; and he is 
now vice-president of the Norwich Savings 
Bank, being the oldest member of its Board of 
Directors. He was for years president of the 
Henry Bell Library, but has now resigned that 
position. 




i 



FREDERICK SYMINGTON. 



I I 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



375 




'REDERICK SYMINGTON, the super- 
intendent nt the William W. Backus 
Hospital at Norwich, is a native 
of Now Bedford, Mass., born August 14, 
1859. Ili> father, Hugh Symington, born 
in 1832, was a native of Scotland, whence he 
came to America at the age of twenty-five 
years. With the latter came his wile, whose 
maiden name was Sarah Cluckson, and one 
sun, William. They settled in New York 
City, where Hugh was successfully enga ;ed 
in his profession of veterinary surgeon, lie 
died in 1882, ami his wife at the age of sixty- 
two, in [891. Both lie buried in Woodlawn 
Cemetery, New York. Of their four sons and 
four daughters, Eudora, Sarah Ann, and Ida 
reside in Bridgeport, Conn. 

Frederick Symington was the youngest son 
and fourth child of his parents. He was edu- 
cated in the public schools of New York City. 
At the age of sixteen he became a book-keepei 
there, and was thus employed for three years, 
lie then went to the Winchester Repeating 
Arms Company as a mechanic, and learned 
the gun-making business, in which he became 
a very proficient workman. In [888 he ac- 
Cl pted a position in the factory of Hopkins & 
Allen, for whom he worked up to 1S93. He 
left that place to take up the duties of 
superintendent of the William W. Backus 
Hospital, in which capacity, as already 
stated, he is now serving. This hospital is 
one of the best of its size in this country, and 
its superintendent takes a personal interest 
and pride in seeing that everything under his 
care is properly conducted. 

Mr. Symington has been twice married. 
His first union was made with Miss Rose 
Hanson, whose children are: Robert, aged 
sixteen; and Alice, aged thirteen years. The 
second marriage, contracted on January [8, 
1893, with Mi^s Clara Stanton, of Norwich, 



has been blessed by the birth of one son. 
Frederick Stanton. Mrs. Symington is a 
daughter >>! the Rev. Robert and Harriet 
(Jones) Stanton. Through her father, who is 
a retired Congregational pastor, she is a di- 
rect descendant of Thomas Stanton, <,l Lon- 
don, England, who embarked January 2, 1635, 
on the merchantman " Bonaventura " lor Vir- 
ginia, whence he afterward went to Boston. 
In 1637 he settled in Hartford, Conn., and 
was subsequently married to Miss Ann Lord, 
of that place, lie established a trading house 
in Stonington, Conn., in 1650. The wile ol 
the Rev. Robert Stanton was a daughter of 
Dr. Timothy Jones, one of five brothers who 
were educated at Yale College. An ancestor 
of the Jones family, who are of English ori- 
gin, Colonel John Jones, was one of the regi- 
cides who were held responsible for the exe- 
cution of Charles I., and executed at Charing 
Cross, London, October 17, 1660. William 
Jones, son of Colonel John Jones, came to New 
England in the same ship with the two regi- 
cides, Whally and Goffe, who were at one 
time secreted in a cave in New Haven, Conn. 
Dr. Timothy Jones, born in 17S4, graduated 
from Yale College in [804, Four years later 
he settled in Southington. In r8l0 he 
wedded Miss Rhoda Lewis, a daughter ol 
Seth Lewis. Nine children were born to 
them, of whom six grew to maturity; and 
Mis. Stanton is now fhe only survivor. Mr. 
Symington is a loyal Republican in politics. 
He is a Master Mason, a Knight Templar, 
and a member of the A. < >. U. W. 



*jjr LEROY BLAKE, D.D., pastor 

jy\ °f the First Church of Christ r 

gregational), New London, Conn., 
since March 30, 1887, was born in Cornwall, 
Vt., December 5, 1K34. a son uf Myron M. 




37<) 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



and Lucy (Stone) Blake. His first ancestor 
in this country, it is said, was John Blake, of 
Maiden, England, who settled in Middletown, 
Conn., in the seventeenth century, and died 
there in 1690. 

The descendants of John Blake are numer- 
ous, and include many distinguished men. 
Stephen Blake, great-grandfather of Dr. 
Blake, was born in Middletown, Conn., April 
27, 1767; and Myron Blake, his grandfather, 
was born November 5. 1790. The latter mar- 
ried Laura Hopkins, of Pittsford, Vt., a sec- 
ond cousin of President Millard Fillmore, and 
reared one daughter and seven sons. 

Myron M. Blake, son of Myron, was born in 
Castleton, Rutland County, Vt., April 12, 
18 1 2, and died in Salisbury, Conn., Septem- 
ber 20, 1893. The greater part of his life 
was devoted to the pursuit of agriculture. In 
March, 1834, he was united in marriage with 
Lucy Stone, a native of Cornwall, Vt. She 
was the daughter of Eli and Polly Stone and 
grand-daughter of Silas Stone, a Revolution- 
ary soldier, who died on the march from Ben- 
nington to Troy. Mrs. Lucy S. Blake died 
April 22, 1894, in Westfield, Mass., aged 
eighty-three years, six months, and is buried 
with her husband in Salisbury, Conn. They 
were members of the Congregational church. 
Four children were born to this couple, three 
of whom are now living: S. Leroy, the sub- 
ject of this sketch; Lyman H., pastor of the 
Second Congregational Church of Westfield, 
Mass. ; and Clarence E. Blake, Ph.D., a suc- 
cessful teacher. 

S. Leroy Blake fitted for college at Burn & 
Burton Seminary, Manchester, Vt., and en- 
tered Middlebury College in the fall of 1855, 
graduating in 1859. For some time after his 
graduation he was engaged in teaching: in 
Wist Randolph, Vt., in 1859 and i860; at 
Lancaster, Mass., about a year; and at Pem- 



broke, N.H., in 1861 and 1862. In the 
spring of 1862 he entered Andover Seminary, 
from which he graduated in 1864; and on De- 
cember 7, 1864, he was ordained and installed 
pastor of the Congregational church in Pep- 
perell, Mass. His succeeding charges were: 
the South Church, Concord, N.H., where he 
began work in January, 1869; the Woodland 
Avenue Presbyterian Church, Cleveland, 
Ohio, November, 1877; the Calvinistic Con- 
gregational Church, Fitchburg, Mass., April, 
1880; and the church in New London, which 
is his present charge. He received his degree 
of Doctor of Divinity in 1883 from Iowa Col- 
lege. The Rev. Dr. Blake is an able 
preacher, a zealous worker for the interests of 
his congregation, and wields a facile and 
powerful pen. He is the author of the book, 
"By Whom and When was the Bible Writ- 
ten?" (published in Boston in 1886 by the 
Congregational Publishing Company), and 
"After Death, What?" (1890), "The Early 
History of the First Church, New London, 
1897," besides a number of pamphlets and 
published sermons. 

The church of which he is pastor has an in- 
teresting history, and the roll of its ministers 
includes some illustrious names. It was 
organized in Gloucester, Mass., in May, 1642, 
by Richard Blinman, who was driven from 
Cheapstone, England, by Archbishop Laud in 
1640. The Rev. Richard Blinman settled 
first in Marshfield, Mass., and went thence to 
Gloucester. In 1650, and with* the majority 
of his congregation, he moved to New Lon- 
don, where he was settled on a salary of sixty 
pounds per year. Eight years later he left 
this place, and in 1660 he returned to Eng- 
land. He died in Bristol in 1679 or 1680. 
His successor was Gershom Bulkeley, a son 
of Peter Bulkeley, of Concord, Mass. This 
gentleman settled here in 1661, and, leaving 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



377 



in 1664, was succeeded in 1666 by the Rev. 
Simon Bradstreet, son of the Governor of the 
Massachusetts Colony and his wife, Ann 

Dudley, famous as the first poetess of Amer- 
ica. The Rev. Mr. Bradstreet died in Au- 
gust, [683. I lis successor, Gurdon Salton- 
stall, took charge of the church in [688. He 
was ordained here in [691, and was pastor 
until 1 70S, when he was chosen Governor of 
Connecticut; and he occupied the gubernato- 
rial chair up to the time of his death in 1724. 
During the pastorates of Bradstreet and Sal- 
tonstall the church was disturbed by the 
Rogerine movement, which was confined 
mostly to this county. 

Mr. Saltonstall's successor, Eliphalet 
Adams, "I Dedham, Mass., was ordained and 
placed in charge of the church in 1709. In 
1740, during his ministry, occurred the great 
revival in New London; and his congregation 
was decreased by the defection of about one 
hundred members who fid lowed the lead of Jo- 
seph Davenport, of Southold, L.I., the inau- 
gurator of the Separatist movement. These 
Separatists established a theological seminary 
in New London. Mr. Adams died in Octo- 
ber, 1753, closing a pastorate of more than 
forty years. His successor, the Rev. Mather 
Byles, of Boston, settled here November 18, 
1757 ami ten years later was made rector of 
an Episcopal church in Boston. The next in- 
cumbent was Ephraim Woodbridge, of Groton, 
Conn. He took charge of the church, 
October 11, 1769, and died September 6, 
1776. 

In 1 7S7 Henry Channing, of Newport, uncle 
of William Ellery Channing, D.D., was 
installed as pastor. Mr. Channing, who wis 
a kind and scholarly man, became imbued with 
Unitarian sentiments, which were distasteful 
i" his congregation; and in May, 1806, here- 
signed. In October of the same year the Rev. 



Abel McEwen took charge; and in the fifty- 
four years of his ministry several t hanges took 
place, and the church membership was 
mented by a series of revivals. In 1835 the 
Second Congregational Church was colonized; 
and in June, 1S56, the Rev. Thomas 1'. Field 
was installed as associate pastor to Dr. Mc- 
Ewen. Dr. Field resigned in the autumn of 
[876 to accept a professorship in Amherst 
College. He was succeeded by Edward VV. 
Bacon, son of Dr. Leonard Bacon, of New 
Haven, who was active in ministerial work 
until October, 1886. He resigned on account 
of ill health, and died in California in June, 
18S7. 

This church began worship in Robert 
Farks's barn, which, fitted for the purpose, 
was used until 1655. Then the building 
known as the Blinman Church was erected; 
and in 1680 the second house of worship, 
known as the Bradstreet Church, was first 
used. All these buildings were on Meeting- 
house Hill. The first church, sold to James 
Avery, was moved to Poquonnock Plain, and 
used as a dwelling-house until July 20, 1 
when it was destroyed by fire. The Brad- 
street house also was burned, and a new one 
completed on the same site in [698 was called 
the Saltonstall Church. This was in use 
until 1785, when the fourth house of worship 
was erected on the site of the presenl church. 
The last structure erected, which was finished 
in 1S50, is a large and handsome edifice of 
solid granite. 



T|<»I1X TYLER BECKWITH, farmer 

and teamster of Niantic, Conn., is a 
native of New London, and was born 
July IO, 1838, his parents being Clement I., 
and Hannah (Chapel) Beckwith. He comes 
of a line of brave men whose lives were ha/.- 



37§ 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIF.W 



arded in behalf of their native land, his pa- 
ternal grandfather, Seth Beckwith, having 
been a soldier of the Revolution, and his 
father a soldier of the War of 1812. Grand- 
father Beckwith was horn in Waterford, and 
was a farmer. He married a Miss Ksther 
Leach, who bore him five sons and two daugh- 
ters. One son died young of lockjaw. 
Grandmother Beckwith, who survived her hus- 
band for many years and was a pensioner, died 
in Montville about 1846, an octogenarian. 

Their son, Clement L. Beckwith, above 
named, was for forty-seven years a tenant 
farmer on the estate of Dr. Isaac Thompson, 
of New London, and paid as high as three 
hundred and fifty dollars a year for rent. The 
amicable relations which existed for so long a 
period between him and his landlord were 
creditable to the character of both men. Mr. 
Thompson highly valued his tenant, and when 
dying said, "Let Beckwith stay as long as he 
wants to." Clement Beckwith's wife, Han- 
nah Chapel, whom he married in 18 16, was 
born in Montville in 1796. She survived her 
husband some eighteen years, and died Decem- 
ber 11, 1881, in her eighty-sixth year. They 
had a large family of children, as follows: 
Gilbert Russell, who was accidentally killed 
when six years of age; Miroch, born in 1 819, 
who died in New London, aged sixty-two; 
Sarah A., who married Francis D. Beckwith, 
of Xew London, and is living on Willets 
Avenue near the house where Mr. John Tyler 
Beckwith was born; Allen, deceased at the 
age of nineteen; Anson, who died in 1890, 
aged sixty-five years; Mary, who died before 
reaching twenty years of age; Alfred, who 
died in 1887; and Maria, the wife of Henry 
T. Squire, living on Ocean Avenue, Xew 
London, Conn. 

John T. Beckwith in his boyhood received 
a common-school education. His working 



life began at an early age, as he sold milk for 
his father wdien he was no higher than a good- 
sized milk can, and from that time on has 
been actively employed. He continued to 
sell milk in New London for some twenty-two 
years. After marriage he lived on his 
father's farm for seven years, improving that 
part of it which his father had bought of Dr. 
Thompson. He then removed to the White 
Hall farm in Mystic, in the town of Stoning- 
ton, and was there for two years, at the end of 
which time, in March, 1873, he came to the 
farm of Mrs. Beckwith's father, which he has 
since purchased. He has been actively en- 
gaged in farming and in teaming; and, al- 
though he has but twenty-five acres of land, it 
is under high cultivation and yields abun- 
dantly. Three years ago he built his fine 
large residence in Niantic. 

On the 31st of December, 1863, he married 
Annie T. Beckwith, a daughter of Horace and 
Mary (Comstock) Beckwith, of Waterford, 
near East Lyme, where she was born April 
14, 1 84 1 . Mr. Horace Beckwith was a ship- 
carpenter at the head of Niantic River. His 
family consisted of six sons and three daugh- 
ters. Two of the sons, Turner and Horace, 
and the three daughters grew to maturity. 
Turner Beckwith lives in Niantic; but his 
brother Horace went away, and was never 
heard from. One daughter is Mrs. Charles 
Bishop, of New London. Mr. and Mrs. John 
T. Beckwith have two children: Fred A., who 
is engaged in the livery business in this 
place, and is the father of one daughter, 
Leslie Mott; and Mary H., wife of S. J. 
Weaver, of Flanders. 

Mr. Beckwith is a Republican, and cast his 
first vote in i860 for President Lincoln. He 
is a trustee of the Baptist church, and both he 
and his wife are devout and active members of 
that body. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



379 



(Sft-OHN W - MANWARING, the courte- 
ous proprietor of the Oswegatchie 
House in Waterford, New London 
County, Conn., was born in Lyme, this 
county, on September 20, 1826, son of 
Thomas and Mary (Keeney) Manwaring. His 
paternal grandfather, Thomas, was horn near 
the same place in 1755. When a young man 
he served his country in the Revolutionary 
War. His life occupation was farming, 
which he carried on at the head of the Con- 
necticut River. He married Katurah Hurl- 
but, of this town; and they reared four sons 
and four daughters. He died in [832, at the 
age of seventy- seven ; and his wife, surviving 
him ten years, lived to be eighty. Thomas 
Manwaring. the father of John W. , was born 
in this town, April 17, 1793. He was an 
able farmer, who owned a good farm of two 
hundred acres. He also officiated as Justice 
of the Peace and as Selectman. In 1815 he 
married Mary Keeney, daughter of William 
Keeney, her mother's maiden name being 
Chappell. Her father, William Keeney, was 
four times married. His first wife, whose 
maiden name was Gorton, died leaving four 
sons .md one daughter. His second wife left 
but one child, the mother of the subject of 
this sketch. By his third and fourth wives he 
had no children. Thomas and Mary Keeney 
Manwaring bad eight children, but two of 
whom are living — Mary and John W. Man- 
is the widow of James R. Moore, of Hartford, 
She resides with her son, James R.. being 
now eighty years old. The father died June 
20, 1862, and his widow several years later, 
at the age of seventy-four. They were highly 
respected members of the Baptist church. 

John W. Manwaring came to Waterford 
with his parents at the early age of five years. 
He acquired a common-school education, and 
chose farming as an occupation. He began 



life on this farm oi over a hundi es in 

1849, remaining twenty years, lie then re- 
moved to his presi nl hotel site, only a qu 
oi a mile distant. At that time the house was 
small, accommodating only fifteen or twenty 
guests. The present hotel is situated on the 
east bank of the Xiantic River, overshadowed 
by the Oswegatchie Hills, and will accommo- 
date from forty to fifty- summer boarders. 
B( -ides the hotel and fine bams he has two 
cottages on the grounds. Three other sum- 
mer residences have been built by San I-'ran- 
cisco gentlemen, the whole forming a select 
little village. 

In politics, since first exercising the right 
of suffrage, Mr. Manwaring has belonged to 
the Democratic party. Officially, he has been 
prominent in the town, serving as Justice 
of the Peace thirty-five years and on the 
Board of Education thirty-three years, during 
twenty-seven of which he was secretary. 

Mr. Manwaring was first married in No- 
vember, 1849, to Cordelia Caulkins, who was 
horn in 1831. daughter of J. C. and Adeline 
(Averill) Caulkins, of this town. She be- 
came the mother of two sons, one of wh 
named Myron, died at tin- age- of two and a 
half years. The other, Harvey M-. is a resi- 
dent of Bridgeport, Conn. Mrs. Cordelia C. 
Manwaring died at the age of thirty-four. 
Mr. Manwaring married for his second wife 
Mary E. Morgan, a daughter of Philip Mor- 
gan, who lived on Prospecl Hill in this town, 
and who served officially as Selectman for 
several years, Judge of Probate, Representa- 
tive, and State Senator. Her father died in 
i.'n. leaving one son and five daughters, of 
whom the son and three daughters are now- 
living. Mr. and Mrs. M anwaring's only liv- 
ing child is Selden 1'.. who was graduated 
from the Friends' School, Providence, R.I., 
and is now twenty-three years old. Another 



3 8o 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



son died in early manhood. In religion Mr. 
Manwaring affiliates with the Baptists, having 
been a church member for fifty-four years. 




REDERICK LESTER GARDNER, 
one of Norwich's most successful 
farmers, is a lifelong citizen of the 
town, having been born here, March 5, 1832, 
son of Sidney and Fanny Maria (Fanning) 
Gardner. His father was born in Bozrah, 
this county, in 1795, and his mother in Gro- 
ton, April 12, 1790. His paternal grandpar- 
ents, Lemuel and Jemimah (Lothrop) Gard- 
ner, were farming people of Bozrah and later 
of Norwich, where the former died July 16, 
1839, and the latter March 16, 1850, at 
eighty years of age. Sidney Gardner fol- 
lowed farming throughout his life, which was 
spent on the old homestead. He died Sep- 
tember 14, 1840. His wife, Fanny, was a 
daughter of Thomas and Susanna (Faulkner) 
Fanning and a grand-daughter of Thomas and 
Elizabeth (Capron) Fanning. Grandfather 
Fanning and four of his brothers — there were 
six in all — served in the Revolutionary War. 
Charles, who held the office of paymaster, was 
a close friend and companion of Washington 
and Lafayette. The other three were: Fred- 
erick, Elkanah, and Frank, one or more of 
them Deing officers. The name of the sixth 
brother was Walter. The family came origi- 
nally from England, and were prominent 
among the early colonists. Sidney Gardner 
and his wife had three sons and two daugh- 
ters, of whom Frederick Lester was the fourth 
child and second son. Hut one other, 
Charles H., of Norwich, is now living. Sid- 
ney, Jr., was engaged in fanning on the old 
homestead prior to his death, June 22, 1847, 
in his twenty-fourth year. Sarah, who mar- 
ried Alexander Meech, died February 5, 1871, 



when nearly forty-five years of age. Frances, 
who became the wife of David C. Whaley, 
died in the fortieth year of her age, leaving 
one son, Chauncey Whaley, now a resident of 
New London, Conn. 

Frederick Lester Gardner spent his early- 
years on his father's farm, and was educated 
in the common schools of Norwich. For a 
year he worked as a clerk in Clinton, Mass. 
In 1855 ne went to Cleveland, Ohio, and en- 
gaged in the manufacture of agricultural im- 
plements, but within two years returned East. 
He was next employed as a book-keeper in 
Norwich three and one-half years, and subse- 
quent to that was engaged in the clothing 
trade for three years. From 1867 to 1 890, a 
period of twenty-three years, he carried on a 
prosperous grocery business in the city of 
Norwich, subsequently retiring to his present 
home, an excellent farm of one hundred and 
eight acres, which he has since conducted. 
December 16, 1883, Mr. Gardner was married 
to Mrs. Joanna W. Ransall, whose maiden 
name was Loomis. 



7^\HARLES D. WILLIAMS, a pros- 
it jj perous farmer of Groton, residing 

^i? ^ near Mystic, was born in Ledyard, 
Xew London County, June 26, 1844, son of 
John D. and Jeanette (Williams) Williams. 
The grandfather, John Williams, who was a 
farmer in Ledyard. and lived to be over 
seventy years old, had five sons and two 
daughters, of whom the survivors are: Peter, 
an octogenarian, residing near Norwich; and 
Patty Williams, who lives in Ledyard with her 
daughter. The father, after having started in 
life without capital, by enterprising industry 
became the owner of a farm of one hundred 
and seventy-five acres. In 1840 he married 
Jeanette Williams, a daughter of Judge Will- 
iam Williams; and besides his son Charles he 



BIOGR M'MICAI, REVIEW 






had a daughter, Elizabeth, who became the 
wile of Nelson Williams, of Groton. He died 
in 1876, and his wife in 1884, aged sixty-nine. 
When eighteen years of age Charles D. 
Williams went to sea with Captain 15. I-'. 
Noyes on the brig "General Bailey," which 
was afterward burned at the wharl in New 
York. In i«S6i he was on the " Weybosset, " 

overnment transport used for conveying 
troops to Norfolk, Va. , and other places. At 
the age of twenty-seven he sailed as captain 
of the schooner "River Queen," which was 

iged in the lumber trade, plying between 
New York and Galveston. Less than a 
later he went on the "Cyclone of Boston," a 
coaster, and about a year afterward took 
charge of the "Belle of the Hay," of which he- 
had become part owner, and made voyages to 

in, Sicily, and other places, doing a suc- 

1 nl business as a fruit trader. The next 
1 that he commanded, which was also his 
last, was the bark "Silas Fish," of which he was 
captain from 1875 t0 1884, and which he first 
took to China. In 18S0 he bought the sixty- 
acre farm lying on the west side of .Mystic 
River, which is now his home, and where he 
has since built his residence. Besides doing 
general farming he has a fine orchard of young 

>. including apple, pear, ami cherry, which 
he set out and has since carefully tended. 
His animals include two cows, and a span of 
horses kept lor his personal use. 

On August 1, [882, Mr. Williams married 
Eliza K. Fish, a daughter of Thomas R. 
Isabelle (Cook) Fish. Her father is a farmer 
in Groton. She has two brothers, Frank and 
who live with their parents. Mi. 
Fish was a soldier in Company C of the 
Twi nty-first Connecticut Infantry during the 
Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. Williams took 
their bridal trip on the "Silas Fish" to Val- 
paraiso, being gone a year. In politics Mr. 



Williams is a gold Democrat. He is a Mas- 
ind a member of Charity and 
Relief Lodge of Mystic. His initiatory 
degrees in Masonry were taken in Brook- 
lyn, N.Y. 

TdLMKR M. CHADWICK, a prosperous 

Jl2 merchant and Postmaster of Salem, 

was born in this town, April 25, 

1873, son of Frederick E. and Mary E. 

(Kelly) Chadwick. The paternal grandfather, 

1 forace M. Chadwick, was also a native of this 
county, ami died at the age of fifty-eight 
years, leaving a widow and only son. His 
wile, whose maiden name was Olmstead, sur- 
vived her husband but a few r months. The 
son, Frederick E. Chadwick. was born Decem- 
ber 4, 1845, in the house in Salem which was 
to be his lifelong residence. He became a 
successful farmer anil merchant; but his 
career of activity and usefulness was prei 
turely cut short, August 21, 1888, when he 
was forty-two years old. While spending a 
day at the beach, he stopped into treacherous 
quicksands, which suffocated him before help 
could arrive. He was highly thought of by 
his fellow-citizens, and at different times held 
most of the offices in the gift of the town. 
He was Judge of Probate, a member of the 
legislature in 1876, and First Selectman for 
several years before his death. In politics he 
voted with the Republican party. He mar- 
ried Mar)- I".. Kelly, a daughter of Henry M. 
and Mary A. (Pratt) Kelly, residents of Leb- 
anon. Conn., the father being a blacksmith 
by occupation. Mr. Kelly was twice married. 
His first wife. Mary, died at the age of forty, 
leaving four children. For his second wife- 
he married Sarah W. Church, a native of 
Rhode Island, who bore him three children. 
He died in 1889, at tl of seventy years. 

In the spring of 1889 Mrs. Chadwick, with 



3 82 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



her son Elmer, moved to Colchester, Conn., 
where they resided three years, returning to 
Salem in 1892. She is an Episcopalian in 
religious belief, as was also her husband. 

Elmer M. Chadwick completed his educa- 
tion at the Bacon Academy in Colchester; 
and, after leaving school in 1892, he taught 
one term. He then entered the mercantile 
business, conducting for several years a 
general store, in company with William B. 
Kingsley, under the firm name of W. B. 
Kingslev & Co. On July 1, 1897, he became 
sole proprietor of the .business, which he is 
now conducting alone. He was appointed 
Postmaster at Salem, June 7, 1897. On No- 
vember 25, 1897, Mr. Chadwick was married 
to Miss Kathryn M. Merritt, of Chicopee 
Falls, Mass., but formerly of Salem, Conn., 
the ceremony taking place at the residence of 
her mother. 



ENISON J. CHAMPLIN, the Jailer 
of Norwich, was born in Montville, 



B 

f-*^*/ Conn., April 21, 1841. He is a 
descendant of Jeffrey Champlin, who was 
made a freeman in Rhode Island in 1640, and 
who was at that time granted ten acres of land 
in Newport. Jeffrey Champlin in 1661 was 
prominent in Westerly. His death occurred 
in 1695. His sons were: Jeffrey, William, 
and Christopher. The second Jeffrey, who 
was born in 1652, bought six hundred acres 
of land in Kingston, R.I. He was one of 
three Assessors in that town, and was in the 
Assembly from 1696 until the time of his 
death, in 171 5, a period of nineteen years. 

John Champlin, the grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was born August 10, 1 77 1 , 
and died December 29, 1841. He was a tiller 
of the soil, and owned a farm in Montville. 
The maiden name of his wife was Sally Will- 
iams, a daughter of Peter Williams, who was a 



farmer of Ledyard. They had nine children, 
and reared seven — John, Oliver, Clarissa, 
Abby, Isaac S., William, and Thomas W. 
Thomas A. and Mary Ann died in infancy; 
John was a farmer of Ledyard; Oliver, a 
farmer and carpenter, was drowned; Clarissa 
married Lyman Miner, a carpenter; Abby, 
who took care of her invalid mother for many 
years, married late in life Sol C. Vibber; 
Isaac S. was a farmer of Montville; William 
was a dry-goods merchant and for a long time 
a member of a prominent firm in New York 
City. Thomas W. in 1840 married Eth- 
elinda, a daughter of Willard Wickwire by his 
second wife, Theoda (Chapel) Wickwire. 
Their three children were: Denison ]., 
Charles C, and Albert T. Charles C. kept 
up the old farm where his father and grand- 
father had lived and died. He died April 14, 
1895, at the age of forty-two, leaving a son 
and daughter in Montville. Albert T. is un- 
married, and lives on the old farm with his 
brother's widow. The father held various 
town offices, and was the legislative Repre- 
sentative in 1863. He died May 29, 1880, 
his wife having died the year before, at the 
age of sixty years. 

Denison J. Champlin lived at home until 
he was twenty-two years old. Then he be- 
came a turnkey at the county jail on Novem- 
ber 16, 1863. After spending nearly three 
years in this position, he resigned to learn the 
carpenter's trade; and he afterward worked as 
a carpenter and millwright until 1869. He 
again filled the position of turnkey at the jail 
for two years, afterward spending four years in 
Elkhart, Ind., as clerk of the Elkhart Hotel. 
He returned to the jail in Norwich in 1875 
and became Deputy Jailer under Sheriff O. N. 
Raymond. Subsequently, after a period of 
service as steward in the Connecticut State 
prison, he in 1SS4 was made Jailer of the 




DENISON J. CHAMPLIN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



385 



ity jail, which position he has most ably 
filled for the past thirteen years. 

On September 15, [879, Mr. Champlin 

married Abbie A. Brown, a daughter of Al- 

I-'. and Abigail A. (Mason) Brown, of 

Jewett City. Her lather was the Postmaster 

of Jewett City for nineteen years. Mrs. 

mplin has lost an own sister, and has a 

half-brother living, Alfred F. Brown, Jr. 

Mr. Champlin is a Mason oi the thirty-second 

He is a Republican in politics. In 

nance he is a typical jailer and turnkey, 

I high, and weighing about 

two hundred and sixty pounds. 




LORENZO DOW FAIRBROTHER, 

e of the Town Court of Stoning- 

ton, was born in Providence, R.I., 

ember 1, 1*54, son of Isaac Newton and 

Emily (Lamb) Fairbrother. His father, who 

iw in business in Stonington, was born at 

ett's Harbor, N.Y., in the year 1813. 

r his marriage Isaac X. Fairbrother re- 

1 in New London for a time; but he sub- 

lently went to Providence, where for some 

conducted a bakery business. Still 

later he spent some time in Phoenix, R.I. 

During the past twenty-six years he has been 

iged in business in Stonington. His 

wile, Emily Lamb Fairbrother, is a native of 

11: and they were married in Stonington. 

They are the parents of eleven children, only 

five of whom reached maturity, namely: 

Emily, who became the wife of Charles 

1 dieil at forty years of age, after 

having lost her only child; James IL, a 

printer and job compositor, who died when 

forty-five years old, leaving a widow and one 

iiter: William, who is in business with 

his lather, and has a wile and four children: 

Harriet, who married Joseph Cornell, died at 



the age of thirty, and is survived by one of 
her two children ; and Lorenzo Dow, the sub- 
ject of this sketch. 

Lorenzo Dow Fairbrother received his edu- 
cation in the schools of Providence, R.I. 
When a boy he learned the printing business 
in that city, and for over twenty years was 
employed in the office of the Stonington 
.Minor, being a half-owner of the business ten 
years of that time, during which it was cai 
on under the style of Anderson & Fairbrother. 
Resides attending to his official duties, he is 
a correspondent of the Westerly Sun, and occa- 
sional!)' assists in editing that paper. 

On April 7, 1886, Judge Fairbrother mar- 
ried Miss Mary B. Miller, of Brooklyn, N.Y., 
a daughter of William 1-;. D. and Anna 
(Chesebro) Miller and great-grand-daughter of 
Llder Elihu Chesebro. Her lather was born 
in North Hartland, Vt., in 1S26, and died in 
[866. He was a civil engineer, and surveyed 
the line of the old Vandalia Road from Terre 
Haute to St. Louis. He also ran the first 
engine over the road. His wife survived him 
many years, dying in December, 1892, when 
sixty-five years old. They had two children 
— ■ Mary B. and William E. William E. is an 
engineer, residing in Terre Haute, Ind. Mr. and 
Mrs. Fairbrother have four children: Anna !•'., 
born July 12, 1887 ; James Edward, born Dei 
ber 30, 1889; Prudence, born May it, 1893; 
and William Dean, born November 25, 1896. 

Judge Fairbrother is a Republican politi- 
cally. He has served in many public offices, 
including those of Burgess, Treasurer of the 
School District, Register of Voters (twelve 
years), and as a member of the Town Commit- 
tee (fifteen years). He belongs to the Royal 
Arcanum, being a charter member of Pequot 
Council, No. 442, which was organized seven- 
teen years ago. He is also a Past Regent, 
and has been Collector. 



3 86 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 




RIGADIER-GENERAL GEORGE 
HAVEN, New London's Chief of 
Police, was born in this city, March 
27, 1844. He is a son of Urbane and Sarah 
(Rogers) Haven, both of whom were members 
of old Connecticut families. The Havens, 
who are of Welsh extraction, settled in this 
country some time in the seventeenth century. 
Jonathan Haven, General Haven's great- 
grandfather, was a resident of Groton or Ston- 
ington, at that time a part of New London. 
His son, Jonathan, Jr., the grandfather, who 
resided in Groton, and died in the prime of 
life, about the year 1846, married Catherine 
Gallup, of Groton, a daughter of Jesse and a 
grand-daughter of Benadam Gallup. She died 
about the year 1855, and lies buried with her 
husband in the old Mystic cemetery, formerly 
known as Elder Wightman's burial-ground. 
They reared four sons and eight daughters. 
All the sons and six of the daughters brought 
up families, and are now deceased. The sons 
were named Edmund F., Urbane, George, and 
Jonathan. 

Urbane Haven, a native of Groton, born in 
1 819, was a skilled mechanic, and was for 
some time the foreman for the Wilson Manu- 
facturing Company. Possessing a natural 
talent for music, he was a skilled performer 
on several instruments. He died in East 
New London in 1867. In June, 1843, he was 
united in marriage with Miss Sarah Rogers, 
of this city, a daughter of Jonathan Rogers 
and a descendant of James Rogers, one of the 
early Quakers. She is still living in the old 
home in East New London where her hus- 
band died, and, though over seventy years of 
age, is active and in possession of her facul- 
ties. Her children were: George, the subject 
of this sketch; Elizabeth, the wife of Charles 
A. Thrall, of Staten Island; Catherine, who 
was the wife of James L. Eggleston, had two 



daughters and one son, and died in Atchison, 
Kan., at the age of forty-three; Chester, at 
Prince's Bay, Staten Island, who has two 
daughters; and Sarah, a young lady living 
with her mother in East New London. 

George Haven acquired his early education 
in the public schools of New London. The 
war troubles were fermenting while he was 
applying himself to his books; and on April 
20, 1861, about a month after his seventeenth 
birthday, he left school to enlist in Company 
C, Second Connecticut Regiment, under com- 
mand of Colonel, afterward General, A. H. 
Terry. When his term of three months 
ended, he re-enlisted, being enrolled as a pri- 
vate, November 21, 1861, in Company C, 
First Connecticut Cavalry. During his sec- 
ond term he rose to the rank of Corporal. 
His regiment was in upward of fifty engage- 
ments; and, though he participated in every 
battle, he was neither wounded nor taken pris- 
oner. After receiving his discharge on No- 
vember 22, 1864, he returned home, and went 
to work for the Wilson Manufacturing Com- 
pany, with which he was connected some eigh- 
teen years, at first with his father and after- 
ward taking his place as foreman. He left 
the employ of the Wilson Company about 
1 886, and the following year was employed by 
the Quinnipiac Company. In 1888 he was 
appointed Chief of Police of New London. 
While working as a machinist and discharging 
his duties as Chief of Police, he was active in 
military matters, and was promoted step by 
step to the rank which he now holds. On 
April 14, 1865, he became a member of Com- 
pany D, Third Regiment of National Guards, 
and was made First Sergeant eight clays later. 
His succeeding promotions were as follows: 
Second Lieutenant, July 6, 1865; First Lieu- 
tenant, December 1, 1865; Captain, August 
io, 1867; Major of the Third Regiment, Sep- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 






tetnber 3, 1870; Lieutenant Colonel, April 
jo, 1872. After resigning April 21, 1X73, 
be rejoined the Guards, and was made Captain 
and Adjutant on February (8, [879; Major, 
March jo, [882; Colonel, July 12, (886; 
Brigadier-general, commanding the brigade, 
May 28, [892; and Adjutant-general of Con- 
necticut, January 7, 1897. Since his appoint- 
ment by Governor Cooke to the post of Chief 
of Police, he has been in office, with the ex- 
ception of one year. He had charge of the 
Connecticut State prison for three months in 
I, during an investigation. He is a man 
of soldierly bearing, firm and decided, yet in 
social intercourse of a modest and retiring 
manner. He has shown himself to be the 
right man in the right place, commanding the 
respect and esteem of his subordinates, and in- 
spiring criminals with a wholesome awe. 

Hrigadier-general Haven was married in 
October, 1870, to Miss Ella A. Beckwith, 
who died in 1877. She was the mother of a 
son and a daughter, who died young. He 
contracted a second marriage in October, 
[882, with Miss Mattie A. Comstock, of New 
London, a daughter of Captain Horace Com- 
stock. By this union he has one son, Morgan 
B., born February 4, 1893. General Haven 
served the city for six years as Alderman and 
Councilman. An active member of the Grand 
Army, he was the father of W. W. Perkins 
Post, No. 47, and has filled its principal 
s, serving as Commander for three terms. 
He is a Master Mason; and he has passed the 
chairs in Mohegan Lodge, I. O. O. F. 



KREDERICK II. BREWER, a well- 
known citizen of the town of Groton 
and a Justice of the was bom in 

Norwich, Conn., May 24, 1834, son of Lyman 
and Harriet (Tyler) Brewer. (An account of 



his ancestry ma} bi found in the sketch oi 

Louisa J. Brewer, published elsewhere in this 
work.) The lather was born in Wilbraham, 
Mass., about 1785, and died in Norwich in 
June, [857. His wife was the daughter of the 
Rev. John Tyler, rector of Christ's Church 
for fifty-four years. They had eleven chil- 
dren, of whom the subject of this sketch was 
the youngest. 

Frederick H. Brewer was educated in the 
school of Dr. Roswell Park at Pomfret, where 
he studied for six years. In 1852 he went to 
Buffalo, where he was engaged for sixteen 
years in the Cuban shook trade, as a member 
of the firm of Story & Polhemus. 

In 1869 he returned to Norwich, and settled 
upon his small farm of twenty acres, near 
West Mystic station. He has been proprie- 
tor for seven years of the Nawyang House, on 
Mystic Island, now called the Mystic Island 
House, which was built in 1857, and was 
owned by his brother William. This brother, 
who was Clerk of the Court in Norwich for 
many years, died in California. Judge 
Brewer is a Democrat politically. He lias 
served as Justice of the Peace for twelve 
years, and has also been Registrar of Voters. 
lie is a Master Mason of Buffalo Lodge. He 
is a communicant of the l^piscopal church, in 
which he serves as vestryman and clerk of the 
parish. Judge Brewer was married in Buffalo 
in 1859 to Rebecca Holmes, daughter of Rob- 
ert Holmes, of that place. He has five chil- 
dren, namely: Lyman, a banker in California, 
who is married and has two sons and two 
daughters; Harriet I.., who resides with her 
brother; Julia E., Ellen T, and Fran 
Hale, who at home with their parents. 

These children were educated in the high 
school at Mystic. 

Judge Brewer's home, on the banks of the 
Sound, commands a line view of the ocean and 



3 88 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



neighboring islands to the east and south. 
With a plenteous supply of bivalves and fish 
in every variety fresh from the water, with 
vegetables from the garden and abundant sup- 
plies from the dairy and poultry yard, they 
are in no danger of wanting the necessaries 
or even many of the comforts of life. 




"ENRY HASKELL GALLUP, a 
prominent manufacturer of Norwich, 
li 9 ^ _ was born in the town of Preston, 
this county, June 2, 1846. He traces his 
ancestry through many generations, in which 
credit and honor have been associated with the 
name, to John Gallup, a native of Dorsetshire, 
England, who sailed from Plymouth, Eng- 
land, in the ship "Mary and John," and ar- 
rived at Nantasket on May 30, 1630. This 
ancestor, who settled in Massachusetts, was a 
mariner and the captain of a vessel. While 
not a man of property, he was held in high 
esteem. He received Gallup's Island as a 
present from Governor Winthrop. John 
Mason was also a close friend of his. In 
1636 Captain Gallup's name appeared in the 
town records. The family coat of arms bore 
the motto, "Be bold, be wise." The gene- 
alogy of the family, which was published in 
1893 by John B, Gallup, of Agawam, Mass., 
contains many interesting facts concerning its 
early American progenitors. 

Benadam Gallup, the great -great-grand- 
father of Henry Haskell Gallup, born in Gro- 
ton, Conn., in 1716, died in 1800. He served 
in the Revolutionary War as Major in the 
Second Battalion of Wadsworth's brigade, and 
was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colo- 
nel, his commission being signed by Governor 
Jonathan Trumbull, and bearing the date of 
December 2, 1776. Isaac Gallup, son of 
Benadam, also won distinction in the struggle 



for independence. He was a Lieutenant in 
the Sixth Regiment, Tenth Company, under 
Colonel Samuel H. Parsons, this regiment 
being one of those raised at the Lexington 
alarm in April, 1775. Until June 17 the 
regiment was on duty at New London, and 
was then ordered by the Governor's Council 
to Boston. Afterward it was stationed at 
Roxbury, and formed a part of General Spen- 
cer's brigade until December 10, 1775, when 
its term of service expired. By this time 
Isaac Gallup had been promoted to the rank of 
Captain. The regiment was reorganized 
under Colonel Parsons in 1776 for service in 
the Continental army; and after the siege of 
Boston it was ordered to New York City, 
whither it went by way of New London and 
the Long Island Sound. It was there en- 
gaged in fortifying the city until the close of 
the year, participating in the battle of Long 
Island, August 27, 1776, and in the retreat on 
August 29. It subsequently took part in the 
battle of White Plains, after which it was sta- 
tioned on the Hudson, near Peekskill, under 
General Heath, until its term of service ex- 
pired, on December 31, 1776. Captain Isaac 
Gallup married Anna Smith, a daughter of 
Nehemiah Smith, of Groton. 

Isaac Gallup, son of Captain Isaac and the 
grandfather of Henry H., took part in the 
War of 1812. By trade he was a carpenter 
and builder. He also owned and profitably 
conducted a good farm, which is now owned 
and occupied by his son. He was a man of 
influence in town and general affairs. On 
March 12, 18 12, he was married to Miss Pru- 
dence Geer, of Ledyard, who, being a daugh- 
ter of David and Mary (Stanton) Geer, traced 
her family history to England. Of his five 
children, a son and four daughters, 1 
Gallup, who was born near Poquetanuck, No- 
vember 13, 1820, and now resides on the old 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



389 



homestead in Preston, is the only survivor. 

He married on March 23, 1845, Miss Ma- 
ria Theresa Davis, a daughter of Thomas and 
Mary (Shaw) Davis, of Preston, and a grand- 
daughter of Peter and Lucretia (Pellingham) 

Shaw, of Westerly, R.I. On March 23, 
1895, he and his wife celebrated the fiftieth 
anniversary of their marriage. Although he 
is now seventy-seven and she is seventy-three 
years of age, the)' retain their mental and 
physical activity remarkably. Three children 
blessed their union, namely: Henry Haskell, 
the subject of this biography; Ella Maria, the 
wife of Avery U. Wheeler, of Cliff Street, 
Norwich; and Charles Davis, of Norwich, 
who married Grace Rogers Aldrich, and is 
associated with his brother in the belt busi- 
m ss. 

After receiving a good education in both 
common and select schools, Henry Haskell 
Gallup was engaged in teaching for four 
winters. At the age of twenty-two he came 
to Norwich, and went to work as a clerk in a 
hat store. Soon after he became book-keeper 
tor Barstow & Palmer, with whom he remained 
three years. On March 1, 1871, he started 
out tor himself in company with George S. 
Smith, forming the firm of Smith & Gallup, 
which did a prosperous business in leather and 
findings. In 1873, together with Frank 
Ulmer, they purchased the tannery of the late 
Charles X. Farnam, of the Norwich Belt 
Manufacturing Company. Mr. Smith retired 
in 1885, and Mr. Ulmer in 1892, leaving Mr. 
Gallup the sole owner of the tannery at Green- 
ville and of the factory in Norwich. He is 
now doing a very extensive business, employ- 
ing one hundred and ten men, including seven 
travelling salesmen, and having a branch 
house in Chicago, under the management of 
Roswell Allen Breed, by whom it was estab- 
lished in 1887. 



On September jr., [871, Mr. Gallup was 
married to Miss [rena II. Breed, of this city. 
She is a daughter of Edward and Harriet Lee 
(Hebard) Breed and a grand-daughter of Ros- 
well and Sarah (Hancox) Breed. Her ma- 
ternal grandparents were Gurdon Hebard, 
born at Windham, Conn., October 31, 1770, 
and [rena (Frink) Hebard, born May 19, 
1775. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Breed buried 
their first-born, Charles E., who was a young 
man in the navy, and a daughter, Fanny 
Miner, who died when fifteen years of age. 
Their son Andrew resides in Norwich; while 
Roswell, as above intimated, lives in Chicago. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gallup have lost an infant son 
and daughter: Fanny Ella, in 1876, when 
twenty-one months old; and Clarence Breed 
in 1 88 1, at the age of six months. Their 
living children are: Walter Henry, born 
April 13, 1S73, now at home, having left the 
Norwich Free Academy to go into business 
with his father; and Susie Lena, thirteen 
years old. 

In politics Mr. Gallup is a Republican. 
He was the second president of the Hoard of 
Trade, in which capacity he served for two 
years. Since 18S8 he has been a director oi 
the Thames Rank, and the president of the 
Norwich Industrial Building Company since 
its organization. He is also a director of the 
Chelsea Savings Bank, the president of the 
Crescent Fire-arms Company, and the treas- 
urer of the W. II. Davenport Fire-arms 
Company. His religious creed is the Epis- 
copalian, and he is a warden ol the Christ 
Lpiscopal Church. The family reside at 127 
Washington Street, in thi il home that 

he purchased in 1890. It was built by the 
late James Lloyd Greene at a considerably 
large expense, being constructed of brick and 
finished in a very thorough and attractive 
manner. It stands well back from three 



39° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



streets, occupying nearly half of a block, with 
the large lawn sloping to Washington Street, 
and the garden extending back to Cedar 
Street. There is, however, no ostentatious 
display; while refinement, intelligence, and 
cordiality rule within. 




|RS. ELIZABETH M. HOWARD, 
an esteemed resident of Old 
Lyme, was born in 1S23, the 
youngest of the twelve children, seven sons 
and five daughters, of Robert and Anstice 
(Manwaring) Hough. Her parents were mar- 
ried about 1806; and, the mother dying when 
her daughter Elizabeth was six months old, 
the latter was brought up in the family of her 
uncle, Josiah Manwaring, at Niantic. All 
the members of this family have passed away 
except Mrs. Howard and her brother, Latham 
M. Hough, of Springfield, Mass. 

Elizabeth M. Hough was married in 1840, 
when only seventeen years of age, to Charles 
S. Howard, son of Daniel and Hannah 
(Smith) Howard, of Waterford. His father 
was at different periods of his life a farmer 
and seafaring man; and the children consisted 
of four sons and two daughters, of whom two 
sons and one daughter are now living. 
Daniel Howard, who was twice married, died 
in 1867. Charles S. Howard went to sea 
when he was but fourteen years old; and by 
application to his duties he gradually rose 
until he became captain of a vessel and later 
on part owner of twenty-three fishing-smacks. 
He also at one time carried on a mercantile 
business in Niantic. About 1865 he settled 
on a farm of one hundred and forty acres, 
which he conducted prosperously for the rest 
of his life, his death occurring April 24, 
1890. lie was a man of affairs in Niantic, 
ami served as Selectman. In religion his 



opinions led him to affiliate with the Baptists, 
and he was a member of the church of that 
denomination. Politically, he was a Republi- 
can. Mr. and Mrs. Howard had a family of 
eleven children, all of whom are living but 
two. Their names respectively are: Charles 
R., Mary E., Josiah, Hannah, Mary E. (sec- 
ond of the name), Daniel, Palmer, Edwin, 
Franklin J., Lucy E., and Alfred. Charles 
R. is a merchant in Everett, Mass., and a 
widower with one child. Mary E. (first) died 
when she was five years old. Josiah died at 
the age of fourteen. Hannah is the wife of 
Frederick Harding, of Lyme, and has one 
daughter. Mary E. (second) is the wife of 
Pierce Littlefield, of East Lyme, and has one 
child. Daniel, a merchant in Hartford, is 
married and has two children, a son and a 
daughter. Palmer resides in Lyme, is mar- 
ried, and has one son. Edwin has a wife and 
one son. Franklin J. is married, and has two 
sons and one daughter. Lucy E. is the wife 
of E. D. Caulkins, a farmer. Alfred, who 
cares for the old farm, married Lizzie M. 
Riddle. The last four are all residents of 
Lyme. 



JB 



LYSTED GATES, a member of 
the firm of Gates Brothers, of Ni- 
antic, dealers in general merchan- 
dise, was born in this village, February 22, 
1857, son of Daniel C. and Lydia M. (Parm- 
lee) Gates. His grandfather, Behri Gates, 
who resided in East Haddam and subse- 
quently in Niantic, was a carpenter by trade. 
He was born in one of the last years of the 
eighteenth century, and died in 1877. His 
wife, a Manwaring, was born in 1 Soo, and 
died in 18S6. They reared a large family of 
children, of whom three sons and one daughter 
are now living. Daniel C. Gates was born in 
East Haddam, Conn. He was a blacksmith 




CHARLES S. Ill (WARD. 



BIOGRAPHICAL Rl'A II ' 






by trade, and came to Niantic from New York 
City shortly after his marriage, opening here 
the first blacksmith shop in the town. A nat- 
ural mechanic, he could mend a watch or pull 
a tooth with equal skill, and was a master of 
his trade, lie was a devoted member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and an active 
supporter of its varied benevolent and chari- 
table enterprises. In [849 he married Lydia 
M. Parmlee, of Killingworth, who bore him 
five sons and two daughters, of whom the sub- 
ject of this sketch is the fourth son and child. 
The first son was Walter, who was acciden- 
tally drowned: the second is Walton, of the 
firm of Gates Brothers; Charles, the third 
child, resides in Niantic; Jacob G. lives in 
Guilford, Conn.; Eugenia died at the a- 
twelve; and Pauline, at the age of two years. 
The mother passed away in June, 1876. The 
father subsequently married for his second 
wife a lady from Maine, who survives him. 

D. Lysl es was educated in the dis- 

trict schools. In April, 1S81, he began his 
working life by becoming a clerk for W. I'. 
Beckwith. Two years later he began business 
for himself under the firm name of Gates & 
Ray. The firm continued for twenty-six 
months, when it became Gates Brothers, 
under which name it has since done a large 
and growing business, the largest of the kind 
in Niantic, this result being obtained by t.tii 
dealing and courteous treatment of patrons. 

Mr. Gates is a prominent member of the 
I. O. 0. !•'.. and has served in ail the offices 
in the gift of the order. In politics he is a 
stanch Republican; and in 18S7 he was 
elected to the legislature, in which he served 
creditably for two terms, reflecting honor 
upon his constituents. He is interested in 
the educational affairs of the town, ami has 
been a member of the School Hoard for six 
years and its chairman for five years. In all 



public positions he has Keen faithful to his 
constituents, and has never used official posi- 
tion for the furtherance of Ins personal inter- 
ests, but has considered himsell merely as the 
servant of the public. On the 22d of Novem- 
ber, 1896, Mr. (iates was united in man 
with Mrs. Rachie M. Reilly. 




'*> EORGE G. BROMLEY," a well- 
known farmer and influential citizen 

of Lisbon, Conn., was horn about a 
half-mile distant from his present residence 
on October 8, 1844, son oi Sanford and Re- 
becca (Rose) Bromley. His grandfather 
Bromley was a farmer, and came to Lisbon 
about 1826. He and his wife, whose maiden 
name was Nancy Y. Errington, had eleven 
children, all of whom are now decea 1 d. 

Sanford Bromley, above named, was born in 
1812, probably at Stonington, and died in 
Lisbon in July, 1870. He was a stone-cutter, 
and worked at stone and brick masonry. A 
Democrat in politics, lie was active in all 
public affairs, was a man of prominence and 
influence, and commanded universal respect. 
He served as Town Clerk for seventeen years, 
as Selectman, as School Visitor, and as Rep- 
resentative to the legislature for two terms. 
He was married in 1834 to Rebecca, daughter 
of Captain Russell Rose, of Lisbon. She was 
born in 18 12, and died in [890, about twenty 
years after her husband. Sanford and Re- 
becca (Rose) Bromley had four children. A 
daughter named Nancy died at the age of 
seventy-nine years, and a son, Frederick, when 
an infant. George and Eliza Frances are the 
living, the latter being the wife of Frank 
Fitch, of Norwich Falls. 

Mr. George C. Bromley was educated in the 
common schools. , t select school, and a busi- 
ness college in Hartford. In i8;<> he went to 



394 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Arizona as clerk in the quartermaster's de- 
partment, and was there for nine years. On 
his way home, he stayed in Los Angeles 
nearly a year. He studied the conditions 
of climate and vegetation there, and believed 
it to be, what has since been so strikingly 
demonstrated, a section of country containing 
marvellous agricultural resources, and capable 
of almost unlimited development in agricult- 
ural lines. 

In 1870 Mr. Bromley was united in mar- 
riage with his first wife, Jessie Ross. In 
December, 1887, he was married to his pres- 
ent wife, Elvira B., daughter of H. and Mary 
E. (Boyne) Rogers, of this town. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bromley have a family of three children, 
namely: Mabel, aged seven; Ida, aged five; 
and George Lester, aged three. Mr. Bromley 
is a Democrat in politics, and is actively in- 
terested in the public affairs of the town. 
He has been a member of the Board of Relief, 
and has served the town as Constable for 
years, also as Town Clerk, being now on his 
fourth term in the last-named position. He 
has been prominently connected with the edu- 
cational work of the town, and as a member of 
the School Board has given evidence of his 
practical and broad ideas in regard to the 
management of the local schools. Mr. Brom- 
ley's farm consists of seventy acres. Besides 
carrying on general farming, he has always 
done, and still continues to do, considerable 
carpentering. 

ILLIAM H. CARDWELL,* a 
well-known grocer of Norwich, was 
born in Montville, Conn., a son of 
Samuel Cardwell, his paternal grandfather 
being William Cardwell, a Revolutionary 
soldier. After completing his school educa- 
tion he became clerk in his father's store, and 
later worked in similar positions for others 




until he had laid by a small capital with 
which to establish himself in business. This 
he did in Norwich about forty years ago, and 
Mr. Ransom is the only one here who has 
been engaged in trade in this town for a 
longer period. 

In 1859 Mr Cardwell married Miss Lucy 
Leffingwell Morgan, a daughter of Guerdon 
and Mabel Bushnell Morgan, of Norwich. 
Mrs. Cardwell traces her ancestry directly to 
Governor William Bradford and his wife, 
Alice (Southworth) Bradford. Her paternal 
great-grandfather was Darius Morgan, of Nor- 
wich, and her grandparents, Peter and Han- 
nah (Leach) Morgan, also of Norwich. Her 
father, Guerdon Morgan, was a farmer, whose 
farm came down to him by inheritance through 
seven generations, and is still in possession of 
the family. Mrs. Cardwell is eligible for 
membership in the Society of Colonial Dames. 
Her four children are descendants in the 
ninth generation of Francis Bushnell, one of 
the thirty-five proprietors who came from 
England and settled in Guilford in 1639, 
where he died in 1646. His son, Richard, 
born in England in 1620, married October 11, 
1648, Mary Marvin, of Hartford, Conn., a 
daughter of Matthew Marvin, who was born in 
England in 1600. Richard Bushnell, second, 
the next lineal representative, married Eliza- 
beth Adgate, daughter of Thomas Adgate. 
Caleb, the son of Richard and Elizabeth Bush- 
nell, married Ann Leffingwell, of Norwich; 
and their son Richard married Lucy Perkins. 
Caleb, the son of Richard and Lucy Bushnell, 
married Mabel Pitkin, of Hartford, a descend- 
ant of William Pitkin, -of that place. Their 
son Richard married Annie Bellows, a mem- 
ber of the Groton branch of the Bellows fam- 
ily. Guerdon Morgan, father of Mrs. Card- 
well, died at thirty-nine years of age. His 
widow lived to the age of seventy-six. 





GEORGE A. AVER. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



397 



Mrs. Cardwell was educated in the Norwich 
She lias borne her husband four 
children, two sons and two daughters; namely, 
Mabel, George, Harry, and Alice. Mabel, 
who studied at Waterbury under Professor 
Russell, is proficient in art and music; 
iduate ol the Norwich Free V ad 

. is a merchant in Denver; Harry, who 
was graduated from the Norwich Academy, 
and afterward spent three years in the Poly- 
technic S I Worcester, resides with his 
parents; and Alice, who is a graduate of the 
Norwich free Academy, has also distinguished 
herself as a student, receiving a prize and a 
free scholarship. The family live in the 

e brick residence, 313 Main Street, which 
was built by Mr. Cardwell eighteen years ago. 
In politics he is a Republican. He and his 
wife are members of the Episcopal church, in 
which he is a vestryman. He is a thirty- 
second degree Mason. 



/©To 



EORGE ALBERT AVER, a promi- 
\J5 I nent farmer of the town of Preston 
and one of the youngest landed pro- 
prietors in the county, was born at the Ayer 
homestead, June 8, 1S75, son of George Al- 
bert, Si., and Hannah M. (Arnold) Aver. 
He owns the farm that has been in the family 
for nearly two hundred years, and it is one of 
most extensive and highly cultivated in 
this region. It was originally a part of a 
large tract of land bought of the Indians by 
John Ayer, the ancestor of this branch of the 
1 family, who was born in England, it is 
, in 1680, and died here on February 20, 
I750. 

John Ayer's wife, Sarah, whose family 
name is unknown, died in l~C>0, at the age of 
sixty-eight years, having been the mother of 
ten children. John Ayer, Jr., was the fourth 



child and the first son. He was born in 1718. 
His wife, Abigail, bore him nine children, 
Jonas, born February 6, 1750, being the sixth 
child and the second son. Jonas Ayer was a 
man of extensive possessions and of great in- 
fluence. He served as a member ol the legis- 
lature for several years, lie married Abigail 
Morgan, of Preston, who died at the age ol 
fifty-eight years, leaving the following-named 
six children: Louise, born March 2, 1814; 
Albert G., born October 2, 1815; John, bom 
in April, 18 17; James \\\, born in 18 19: 
Abby Ann, born June 10, 1821 ; and Jonas 
Morgan, born March 29, 1824. 

Albert G. Ayer, who was the grandfather of 
Mr. George Albert Ayer, was one of the rep- 
resentative men of his generation. He mar- 
ried on September 23, 1845, Jane Pendleton, 
born June 3, 1823, a daughter of Isaac Pendle- 
ton, of Oxford, N.Y., and was the father of 
two children: Abbie J., who was born on July 
7, 1846, and died on March 5, 1873; and 
George A., the father of the subject of this 
sketch. 

George Albert Aver. Sr., was born on the 
old homestead. April 22, 1849, ;m 'l died on 
October 22, 1874. He was educated in 
Suffield and in East Greenwich, and was a 
man of broad views and well informed on cur- 
rent topics. He was in the legislature fi 
number of terms, and up to 1873 was the 
youngest man who had ever occupied a scat in 
the house. He was a deeply religious man, 
and was a member of the ional 

church at Preston City. He was married on 
Christmas Day, 1873, to Hannah M., daughter 
of Peleg A. and Hannah W. (Browning) Ar- 
nold. Mr. Arnold died on October 11, 1894, 
at the age of fifty-eight his 

widow and three children: Hannah M.; 
Emily C, wife of Carder II. Tucker, ol Wake- 
field, R. I. : and Mar) Arnold. 



398 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Mrs. Hannah M. Ayer was married a sec- 
ond time on December 14, 1881, to Fred S. 
Brown, son of Shepherd and Martha (Brown- 
ing) Brown, and is living on the Brown home- 
stead, which has been in the family for several 
generations. By this second marriage there 
are two sons : Shepherd F. Brown, born Feb- 
ruary 29, 1884, the fourth Shepherd Brown 
who has lived here; and Arnold P., born July 
31, 1886. Mr. Brown is a Democrat, and has 
been Selectman for four years. He owns a 
fine farm of two hundred acres, and carries on 
general farming and dairying, having a herd 
of some twenty-two cows. He also deals 
quite largely in cattle and poultry, shipping 
poultry to the Eastern markets. 

George Albert Ayer, only son of the elder 
George Albert, was born some months after 
the death of his father; and his education and 
training was under the competent direction of 
his mother. The estate of three hundred acres 
that has come down to him from his grand- 
father Ayer is a heritage with which any man 
might be satisfied, and the family associations 
connected with the place doubly enhance its 
value to the present owner. A few weeks 
ago, on January 5, 1898, Mr. Ayer was united 
in marriage with Miss Mabel E. Tattersall, 
daughter of John and Eleanor (Handy) Tat- 
tersall, of Jewett City, Conn. 



(£f|-OHN E. McDONALD,* of Noank, for 

mi irr than a quarter-century general 
foreman of the business now conducted 
under the name of the Robert Palmer Com- 
pany, a ship-building and marine railway con- 
cern, was born March 14, 1844, on Prince Ed- 
ward Island, and is a son of John and Chris- 
tina (Sutherland) McDonald. 

Allan McDonald, his grandfather, was born 
in the north of Scotland, whence he immi- 



grated to Prince Edward Island in 1780. He 
was a farmer by vocation, and lived to be 
eighty-five years old. P"or his first wife he 
married a Miss McKinnon, and he was mar- 
ried twice afterward. John McDonald was 
born on Prince Edward Island about the year 
1806, and is still living there. He is a ship- 
builder. John and Christina McDonald 
reared nine children, two sons and seven 
daughters. Both sons now reside in Connect- 
icut, M. B. in New London, and John E. in 
the village of Noank. 

John E. McDonald grew to manhood in his 
native town. He received a common-school 
education, then learned the ship-builder's 
trade of his father, beginning his apprentice- 
ship at the age of sixteen. In 1865 he went 
to Boston, Mass., and on June 1 of the follow- 
ing year came to Noank, where he entered the 
employ of Robert Palmer in the ship-yard in 
which he has now been the foreman for over 
twenty-six years. When the Robert Palmer 
Company was organized, about four years ago, 
he became one of the stockholders, so that he 
has since been doubly interested in its suc- 
cessful operation, though at all times a faith- 
ful employee. 

The marriage of Mr. McDonald and Miss 
Sarah McEachen, of Prince Edward Island, 
took place in Boston, Mass. They have an 
interesting family of four children, two sons 
and two daughters, namely: Annie Christina, 
in the Meriden Convent of Mercy, where she 
is known by the name of Sister Mary Rose; 
John Francis, attending the Holy Cross Col- 
lege, Worcester, Mass., class of 1897; James 
Alfred, in the Bulkley High School, of which 
his brother is a graduate; and Gertie M., 
thirteen years old, in school in Noank. 

Mr. McDonald is a Democratic voter. He 
is connected with the American Order of 
United Workmen. He and his wife are mem- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



399 



bcrs of St. Patrick's Church at Mystic. Thi \ 
reside on Church Street, in the house which 
has been their home since 1882, about fifteen 
years. 



■*-*•»-» 




lHARLES ALLYN, who died at his 
home in New London, September 6, 
[888, aged forty-five, was .1 worthy 
representative of an old New London Count)' 
family, being a lineal descendant of Robert 
Allyn, the early settler at Allyn's Point. 
Charles Allyn was born in Wilbraham, Mass., 
and was a son of the Rev. Robert and Eme- 
tine (Denison) Allyn, the former of whom 
was a Methodist divine. 

For a number of years the Rev. Robert 
Allyn was prominent in educational work in 
Illinois, first as president of McKendrie Col- 
lege at Lebanon and later of the State Nor- 
mal School at Carbondale. He was a gradu- 
ate of Wilbraham Academy and of the 
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. 
He was a man oi superior mental powers and 
attainments, and stood very high both as a 
preacher and teacher. Many aide articles 
were written by him tor leading Methodi I 
papers and educational periodicals. His first 
wile, Emeline Denison, died young, leaving 
him with an infant son and daughter — 
Charles and Emeline. lie subsequently mar- 
ried Mary Budington, of Franklin County, 
Massachusetts, who bore him four children. 
The Rev. Robert Allyn died at Carbondale, 
111., January 7, [894, aged seventy-seven 
He had previously been bereft of his 
second wife and two of their children. Put 
three of his six children are now living, 
namely: Emeline, the widow of William 
Hypes, of Lebanon, 111.; Joseph, a mining 
ineer in Chicago, 111.; and Ellen S. 
Allyn, residing in Carbondale. 

Mr. Charles Allyn is survived by his wife, 



whose maiden name was Helen L. Starr. She 
was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., daughter ol 
William Holt and Freelove Hurlbut (Will- 
iams) Stan. Her father was a native of Gro- 
ton, and her mother of Stonington, Conn. 
Mr. Starr at one time carried on a large manu- 
facturing business in Brooklyn, and he was 
also a writer and publisher. IK- was a man of 
influence in public affairs, serving two terms 
in the Connecticut State legislature. He 
died at his home in Xew London in 1884, 
aged seventy-six, in the house that he built in 
the winter of 1853- 54, forty-four years ago, on 
Front Street, near the historic old mill, it 
being one of the first residences erected in 
this part of the town. Mr. and Mrs. Starr 
had five children; namely, William II., 
Charles P., Eliza D. , Helen L. , and Sarah J. 
William II. Starr is a Congregational minis- 
ter in Providence, R.I.; Charles F. lives on 
Post Hill; Eliza U. Starr lives with Mrs. 
Allyn; and Sarah J. is the wife of Henry C. 
PuUer. 

Charles Allyn and Miss Helen Starr were 
married on November 18, 1867. The first six 
years of their wedded life were spent in 
Brooklyn, N.Y., where he held a position in 
the custom-house office. In 1873 they left 
Brooklyn and came to Xew London; and a 
year or two before his death they removed to 
Mrs. Allyn's old home at 4 Fronl Street, 
corner of Crystal Avenue, where she has con- 
tinued to live. In New London Mi. Allyn 
engaged in the book trade. lie was the pub- 
lisher of the History of the Rattle of Groton 
Heights, which appears in a fine quarto vol- 
ume with illustrations; and for several \ 
he published the Daboll Almanac. Four 
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Allyn, 
namely: Charles, who sixteen; Louise, 

a graduate ol the Emerson College of Oratory, 
Boston, in the class of 1895, and now engaged 



4oo 



I'.IOCRAPHICAL REVIEW 




as a teacher of elocution and physical culture; 
Robert, who is studying in the Massachusetts 
Institute oi Technology; and Harriet May, 
thirteen years old, who is attending the gram- 
mar school. 

" kRS. MARCIA PALMER STAN- 
TON, of Stonington, daughter of 
Oliver and Nancy D. (Noyes) 
Denison, and widow of the late Paul Burdick 
Stanton, is a native of this town. Her father, 
who was born January 2, 17S7, and died Sep- 
tember 8, 1873. was one of the nine children, 
five sons and four daughters, of Oliver, Sr., 
and Martha (Williams) Denison. Mrs. Stan- 
ton's grandfather, Oliver Denison, Sr., was 
of the fifth generation in descent from Cap- 
tain George Denison, who was born in Eng- 
land about 16 1 8, and came to this country in 
1631 with his brothers, Daniel and Edward, 
and their father, William Denison, who set- 
tled at Roxbury, Mass. Captain George 
Denison removed with his family from Massa- 
chusetts to the New London Colony in 165 1, 
and in 1654 took up his abode in what is now 
Stonington. He was prominent in civil and 
military affairs, and has been called "the 
Miles Standish of the settlement." Of his 
extensive landed estate less than a hundred 
acres now remain, but it is still held under 
its first title deed. 

Oliver Denison, Jr., was twice married. 
His first wife, Nancy Graves, died young, 
leaving one daughter, born in 1S13, now Mrs. 
Nathaniel Clift, of Mystic. His second wife 
was Nancy Dean Noyes, daughter of Nathan 
Noyes. The date of their marriage was No- 
vember 24, 1825. They had seven children, 
namely: Emma J., who married Asa F. Ken- 
drick; Oliver, who married Harriet A. Wil- 
1 in [886; Marcia P., now Mrs. 
Stanton; Edgar, whose first wife was Mar- 



garet E. Mandeville, and his second, Phebe J. 
Green; Sarah, who died unmarried; Nathan 
X., who married Sarah A. Green; Phebe M., 
who married Reuben Ford, and still lives on 
the old place where Captain George Denison, 
the immigrant ancestor, first settled. The 
mother, Mrs. Nancy D. Denison, died June 
10, 1870. 

The marriage of Marcia Palmer Denison 
and Paul Burdick Stanton was solemnized 
May 25, 1864. Mr. Stanton was born Novem- 
ber 28, 1824. He was the fourth son of Ben- 
jamin F. and Maria (Davis) Stanton, both of 
Stonington, and a lineal descendant of Robert 
Stanton, who was born in England in 1599, 
settled in Newport, R.I., in 1638, and died 
there August 5, 1672. Robert's son, John 
Stanton, a merchant and a member of the So- 
ciety of Friends, born in 1645, was married 
in Quaker meeting to Mary Horndale. John, 
Jr., born in 1673, the fourth of their seven 
children, settled in Westerly, R.I., in 1733. 
He had twelve children by his first wife, 
Elizabeth Clark, and thirteen by his second, 
Susannah Lamphere, whom he married in 
1734, when she was nineteen years of age. 
His son Job, grandfather of Paul B. Stanton, 
was born at Westerly in 1737. He married 
first Elizabeth Belcher, who died in 1773; 
and in June, 1774, he married Mrs. Annie 
Williams Bell, widow of John Bell and daugh- 
ter of Nathaniel and Annie (Hewitt) Will- 
iams. She was a sister of the wife of Colonel 
Ledyard, who fell at Fort Griswold. Job 
Stanton had three children by his first wife, 
and four by the second, Benjamin F. , above 
named, being the youngest. 

Benjamin F. Stanton and his wife, Maria, 
had nine children — -John Davis, Abby J., 
Emma A., Daniel D., Benjamin F., Maria, 
Fanny, Paul B., and Mason Manning. His 
parents, Job and Annie W. B. Stanton, spent 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



401 



their last years on this farm, which he pur- 
chased. Paul Burdick Stanton brought his 
bride here, and it has since been her home. 
Two of his brothers, John and Daniel, lived 
with him. The other brothers, Benjamin and 
Mason, neither of whom ever married, lived 
on the adjoining farm. The entire family of 
live sons and lour daughters have now all 
passed away. Mr. Paul Burdick Stanton 
spent his life quietly as a farmer. He died 
July 8, 1884, in his sixtieth year. Since 
then Mrs. Stanton has had a good tenant to 
carry on the place. Their only child, a 
daughter, died in infancy. Mrs. Stanton is a 
member of the First Congregational Church, 
the Road Church. 



fS^fOSEPH D. HERR, A.M., D.D., the 
pastor of the Central Baptist Church of 
Norwich and a worthy representative of 
an old and distinguished family, was born in 
Sharpsburg, Pa., February 23, 1837. A son 
of Daniel and Ann (Snivel)) Herr, he traces 
his ancestry back to a.d. 1009, and clearly 
shows that his family is connected with the 
royal house of Austria. The coat of arms in- 
dicates that the family is a very ancient one, 
of royal origin and pure descent, that it pro- 
duced knights who fought the Saracens in 
the Crusades, and men of naval prominence, 
and distinguished philanthropists. Though 
the male members of the family were remark- 
able for ability, they had little desire for 
I preferment, whether in statecraft or war. 
Dr. Michael Herr. of Hagenau, Alsatia, who 
was a contemporary of Martin Luther, was one 
of the creators of the High German language. 
His book on the travels of Marco Polo, Co- 
lumbus's discovery of America, and its de- 
scription by Amerigo Vespucci, is one of the 
registered old works in America. The book 



is one of the finest specimens from the first 
century of the printing art, and is ninety-six 
years younger than the first print of Guten- 
berg. There are but three copies in this 
country; and the best preserved, which was 
in the possession of Dr. E. F. Leyh, of Haiti- 
more, Md., was purchased by the Tilden- 
Astor Library of New York. The catalogue 
of the famous Brown Library in Providence, 
R.I., gives a full page to the description of 
this work. 

Hans Herr, Dr. Hen's great-great-great- 
grandfather, who is described in history as 
the founder ami leader of the Mennonites in 
Pennsylvania, was a resident of the Pequea 
Valley in that State and an intimate friend 
of William Penn. His descendants in this 
country are very numerous, the minimum 
estimate being thirty thousand. A number 
of these descendants, including Dr. Herr. 
have formed the Hans Herr Memorial Asso- 
ciation, whose headquarters are at Lancaster, 
Pa., "with a view to commemorating the 
exodus of Swiss Mennonites to America 
nearly two hundred years ago and his leader- 
ship in the movement by erecting some suit- 
able permanent hall, school, or monument." 
In this association, embracing many men and 
women of ability, all tin- learned professions 
are represented. From Hans Herr, Dr. Herr 
traces his descent through Abraham, Chris- 
tian, David, and Benjamin, who was born in 
Lancaster, Pa., in 1766. Benjamin Herr, 
who was the Doctor's grandfather and on, 1 1 
the earliest merchants of Pittsburg, trans- 
ported his goods on pack mules over the 
mountains from Philadelphia. He was thrifty 
and enterprising, and accumulated quite a 
fortune. His death occurred in Pittsburg in 
1846, in his eightieth year. In 17S0 he 
went to Germany for a wife, and brought 
home a comely frau, who was a member 



4<52 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



wealthy and noble family, and whose name 
before marriage was Magdalena Lichte. She 
died at the age of seventy-two; and her re- 
mains lie beside those of her husband in the 
Troy Hill Cemetery, near Herr's Island. 
Thc\' reared seven children, three daughters 
and four sons. Of the sons — Benjamin, 
Henry, Daniel, and John — John, the young- 
est, is living near Cleveland, Ohio, nearly 
ninety years old. He has been engaged in 
agriculture and banking, and is a man of 
prominence. 

Daniel Herr, Dr. Herr's father, was born 
on Herr's Island, in the Alleghany River, 
just above Pittsburg, in 1808. He was en- 
gaged in horticulture up to the time of his 
death, which occurred at the age of thirty- 
seven. His wife, who was born in Alleghany 
County, Pennsylvania, about ten miles from 
Pittsburg, was a daughter of David and Mary 
Snively. The Snivelys also are an old Penn- 
sylvania family. David Snively was a promi- 
nent man. His brother, Christian, served in 
the Pennsylvania legislature; and Christian's 
son Whitmer was an eminent physician. 
Mrs. Ann Herr is now living in Philadelphia 
with her daughter, and, though eighty-eight 
years old, is in possession of ,her faculties, 
and still bright and active. At her husband's 
death she was left with four children, namely: 
Mary, now the wife of Dr. Jacob Stewart, of 
Moline, 111. ; Magdalene, who is the widow of 
the Rev. David Williams and resides in Phil- 
adelphia; Sarah, who is the wife of the Rev. 
David Jones, D.D., the rector of the Epis- 
copal church in Rochester, Pa. ; and Joseph 
D., the subject of this sketch. 

After receiving a thorough training in the 
common-school branches, Joseph D. Herr ob- 
tained employment as a clerk in Sharpsburg, 
Pa., when fifteen years old, and soon made 
himself indispensable. At the age of seven- 



teen he was converted, and decided to study 
for the ministry; and in the year of his ma- 
jority he graduated from Madison College, 
Pennsylvania. Before his graduation he 
began to preach in West Virginia, and about 
three years later he was installed as pastor 
of a large church in Pittsburg. Subsequently 
he had a call to Cincinnati, and about the 
year 1870 returned to Pittsburg to take charge 
of another church. In 1875 ne became pastor 
of the Central Baptist Church of New York 
City. Ill health in his family occasioned 
his removal to Norwich, Conn., in 1881. In 
Norwich he had charge of the Central Baptist 
Church, his present charge, until 1886, when 
he was called to Milwaukee, Wis. ; and in 
that place he built the Tabernacle Baptist 
Church, a handsome brick edifice. After a 
stay of five years in Milwaukee he received an 
urgent and enthusiastic call to return to Nor- 
wich; and in January, 1 891, he was again 
occupying his old pulpit. Since then he has 
erected the fine brick church, with solid gran- 
ite foundation, which is one of the handsom- 
est buildings in the town. The style is 
Romanesque; and the situation, under the 
shadow of the rocks of Norwich, is most pleas- 
ing. Thus five societies have lasting monu- 
ments of his ability in building and repairing 
churches. That Dr. Herr's ability has been 
recognized may be gleaned from the few fol- 
lowing facts concerning his work; he has 
served on the Board of Trustees of Adrian 
College, and in connection with the president 
thereof, Dr. Mahan, was largely instrumental 
in raising an endowment for the institution. 
During his pastorate in New York City, on 
one memorable Sunday morning, under the in- 
fluence of his fervent leadership twenty-four 
thousand dollars was raised in a few moments, 
toward paying off the mortgage of the church. 
While pastor there he had the great privilege 





JAMES PENDLETON. 



I'.inCk M'lllCAI. REVIEW 



4°5 



of receiving into membership with the church 
four hundred and forty-live, more than half of 
whom were added by baptism. While a pas- 
tor in Wisconsin he occupied a [imminent 
place in the denomination, and exercised a 
wide influence throughout the State, in the 
cause of religion and education. Since his 
return to Connecticut Dr. Heir has occupied 
man)- positions of honor and trust. He 
holds, among others, the position of a member 
of the, New England Board of Education, also 
of the Hoard of the State Baptist Convention. 
He is well known throughout the State for his 
zeal in the promotion of religion and educa- 
tion. He is a popular and vigorous speaker, 
and has few equals in his ability to present 
truth and as a vocal interpreter of the Bible. 
natters of public welfare he has the cour- 
ol his convictions, and never hesitates to 
speak them: that he is interested in the 
progress of his adopted home is proven by 
the fact that he is an active member of the 
local Hoard of Trade. 

Dr. Herr was married in 1S59 in Pittsburg, 
Pa., to Mary E., daughter of Captain Ben- 
jamin I., and Anna (Boker) Wood, both of 
whom are now deceased. Mrs. Mary E. Herr 
died within eighteen months after her mar- 
riage, leaving an infant son, now the Rev. 
Benjamin L. Herr, who was recently the pas- 
tor of the First Baptist Church at Bingham- 
ton, N.Y. Dr. Herr contracted a second 
marriage in 1863 with Miss Annie M. Given, 
oi Huntingdon County. Pennsylvania, daugh- 
ter of the late Captain John W. and Nancy 
in) Given. By this union he has had 
three children, one of whom has passed away. 
The others are: Mary Lillian and Joseph D., 
Jr. The former, a graduate of the Female 
College at Milwaukee and the business col- 
there, is a young lady of considerable 
literary talent. Under the nont de pinna of 



Laisdell Mitchell she has written several 
books; and her " rony, the Story of a Waif," 
has passed through a remarkably large edi- 
tion. "Niram: a Dusky Idyl," is also quite 
popular. Miss Herr lives with her parents 
when not travelling. Joseph D. Herr, Jr., 
graduated from the Free Academy oi Norwich 
in 1895; and he is now in the employ of the 
Uncas Paper Company of the same place. 



AMI'S PENDLET< >N, a prosperous mer- 
chant of Stonington, was born in this 
borough, July 29, 1X54, son of Harris 
anil Sarah (Chester) Pendleton. He comes 
of an old American family, many members of 
which have distin Ives in the 

service of the State or in the various civic 
professions. The first progenitor of the fam- 
ily in this county was Major Bryan Pendli 
who was born in England in 1599, and who 
came to this country and settled in Roxbury, 
Mass., near Boston, as early as 1635. He 
filled many positions of honor and trust in the 
infant colony, and became one of its leading 
men. He was a member of the Governor's 
Council for five or six years, and was subse- 
quently Deputy Governor of the Province of 
Maine. His only son, James, served with the 
rank of Captain in the war with the Narragan- 
sett Indians, and distinguished himself by his 
bravery and other soldierly qualities. Harris 
Pendleton, father of the subject of this ski 
was a lifelong resident of Stonington. His 
wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Josiah Che 
They were the parents of eight children, all 
of whom are living except Virginia, who died 
in childhood. A sketch of one of their sons, 
Harris, brother of James, may be found on 
another page of this volume. 

James Pendleton attended the common 
schools until about nineteen years of age. 



4o6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



He subsequently entered the office of Russell 
Hinckley, a contractor and builder, for whom 
he worked two years or more. From 1878 
to 1880 he conducted a market, which busi- 
ness, however, he gave up upon his appoint- 
ment as Postmaster of Stonington, which 
occurred near the close of President Arthur's 
administration. This office he held for five 
years, being removed by President Cleveland. 
He then remained out of business about a 
year, during which he erected his present fine 
residence on Elm Street, and also the Potter 
Block, where he opened a grocery store and 
later, in 1894, his bakery. The block, which 
is three stories high, is sixty by sixty-four 
feet in ground area, and contains three fine 
stores with offices above. After conducting 
the grocery and bakery together for two years, 
in May, 1896, he sold out his groceries, and 
divided the large store into a salesroom, 
office, and storage room, making it a part 
of his bakery. He has four delivery teams, 
which deliver goods in Westerly and Mystic 
as well as in Stonington. His store is noted 
for the excellent cpiality of its bread, cake, 
and pastry. 

On June 12, 1884, Mr. Pendleton married 
Miss Sarah E. Potter, daughter of William 
and Olive B. Potter. Her father, a native of 
Stonington, and a carpenter and builder by 
occupation, died in middle life, leaving his 
widow with two children, of whom Mrs. Pen- 
dleton was the younger. Her mother was born 
in Norwich, Conn., and died in Stonington 
in 1890, aged about sixty-five years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Pendleton have three sons: Frank Ray- 
mond, now eleven years old; Carrol Chester, 
aged nine; and William Clifford, aged seven. 

Mr. Pendleton is a Republican in politics. 
He has been Selectman four years, served 
fourteen years on the Board of Burgesses, and 
is now serving his third term as Warden. In 



1894 he was elected as Representative to the 
Connecticut legislature, and was re-elected to 
the same office in 1896. He is a Master 
Mason and a charter member of the Royal 
Arcanum. He is also a life member of the 
Grand Council, R. A., of Connecticut. 



^Frederick m. tibbetts, who re- 

P^ sides on his large farm, distant about 
a mile and a half from Salem, was 
born at Chesterfield, October 19, 1840, 
son of Benjamin B. and Hannah (Stapeling) 
Tibbetts. His grandfather, Henry H. Tib- 
betts, resided in East Greenwich, R.I. , where 
he carried on a large farm, and reared a family 
of six sons and six daughters, all of whom 
married. The only survivor is Henry, resid- 
ing in East Greenwich, near the old home, 
who at the age of eighty-five is still an active 
worker, and able to cut wood and build stone 
walls. Benjamin B., who was born in East 
Greenwich about 1797, went to California 
during the gold fever of 1849, and was acci- 
dentally shot in 185 1. His widow, after sur- 
viving him many years, died from the effects 
of a fall at the age of ninety. Of their ten 
children there are now living three sons and 
two daughters, namely: John Tibbetts, a 
farmer in Rhode Island, who served for five 
years in the Civil War; Samuel W., who re- 
sides in Newsneck Hill, R.I. ; Lucy Ann, 
who is the wife of Richard Arnold, of Fall 
River, Mass. ; Dorcas R., who is living in 
Providence, R.I.; and Frederick M., the sub- 
ject of this sketch. 

Frederick M. Tibbetts joined the Union 
army in 1863 from Syracuse, N.Y. He be- 
longed to the Eleventh New York Cavalry, 
Company F, served eighteen months, was 
wounded in the right knee at White Lord, and 
was discharged for physical disability. A 



BIOCKAI'IIK M. REVIEW 



4°7 



cough, contracted during his period of service, 
has never left him since. He was formerly a 
member of the G. A. R. in Providence, R.I. 
His religious belief is that of the Congrega- 

tionalist denomination. In 1880 he bought 
his present farm of one hundred and thirty- 
five acres, upon which he has erected his 
e and barn. The home is perched up on 
the hillside, under the shelter of rocky bluffs 
on the west side, and commanding a beautiful 
view of the farms and distant hills to the east- 
ward. On the farm are a flourishing orchard 
and garden. The property, at one time 
known as the Calvin Daniels place, was first 
settled at an early period. To purchase it, 
Mr. Tibbetts spent the entire sum of his sav- 
, which were earned by himself, his wife, 
and children in a factory. It has been 
largely improved since it came into his pos- 
ion. Besides replacing the old residence 
with the present modern structure, although 
constantly suffering from poor health, he has 
erected a wall about the entile farm, that adds 
much to its appearance. He has a small 
dairy, keeps five yoke of oxen constantly at 
work, owns horses and sheep, and grows pota- 
toes, com, and oats for his own use. Though 
an invalid for years, he has survived many of 
his neighbors who were stronger men than lie. 
On March 31, [866, Mr. Tibbetts married 
Sylvia A. 1'otter, who was born in West 
enwich. They have reared eight children, 
including an adopted child, Ambrose B. 
Tibbetts, a son of Mrs. Tibbetts's sister. 
Their own children are: Phebe I'".., the wife 
ot William II. Robison, residing in Franklin, 
and the mother of one daughter: Elmer G., I 
farmer of Salem, and unmarried; Benjamin B. 
Tibbetts, who has a wife and two sons, and 
resides in West Greenwich; William M., who 
is unmarried and resides in Norwich; Fred- 
erick A., who lives at home; Richard B., who 



is part owner of his father's farm, now con- 
sisting of five hundred acres ; I Mabel I 

young lady of seventeen, who resides at home. 



-•-* • •-» 




HOMAS FRANKLIN MORGAN, a 
former wealthy resident of Groton, was 
born in Newport, R.I., February 28, 
1848, son of Captain Ebenezer and Ann Eliz- 
abeth (Price) Morgan. The family are of 
Welsh extraction. James, the earliest known 
paternal ancestor, who was born in Wales in 
1607, in March, 1636, accompanied by his 
brother, emigrated from Brisl .land, to 

America, coming to Boston, Mass. Ebenezer 
Morgan (first), the great-great-grandfather of 
Thomas F., was born September 21, [719. 
His son Nathan was the next in line of de- 
scent. Ebenezer (second), son of Nathan 
the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
was born August 9, 1791. The second Eben- 
ezer was twice married. By the first cere- 
mony, which was performed October 28, 1 S 14, 
Lavinia Newbury became his wife. She was 
a native of Groton, Conn., and had" two chil- 
dren — Julia Ann and Ebenezer (third). By 
his second marriage there were three children. 
Captain Ebenezer Morgan, the father of 
Thomas I'"., was born in Groton, July 22, 
1817. He began his unusually successful 
career by shipping as cabin boy on a whaling- 
vessel. His experience as mariner covet 
period of thirty i irs, during which he 

was captain and part owner of many ves: 
Later he abandoned whaling, being one of the 
first to go to Alaskan waters and engage in 
seal fishing, in command of the bark "Peru." 
He made his last sea voyage in 1868. The 
first of his two marriages was contracted on 
May 24, 1843, with Ann Elizabeth Price, of 
Newport, R.I. The children of this union 
were: Thomas Franklin, the subject of this 



4 oS 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



sketch; William H., of Groton ; Lavinia, the 
wife of Frank P. Marsh, of Providence, R. I. ; 
and a son who died in infancy. The mother 
died January 29, 1888, at the age of sixty-one 
years. Mary J. Strong, of Vernon, Conn., 
became the Captain's second wife. She sur- 
vives him, and is now a resident of Provi- 
dence, R.I. The Captain died August 11, 
1890, leaving an estate worth half a million 
dollars, of which his son, Thomas Frank- 
lin, was appointed the executor. 

While his father and mother were at sea, 
Thomas Franklin Morgan lived with his 
grandfather Price in Newport, R.I., where he 
received his early education. In 1857 he re- 
moved with his parents to Groton, where he 
continued his school life, being further men- 
tally equipped in New London. The family 
resided on Coon Hill until 1869, when it 
moved to its present residence on Monument 
Street, which fine piece of property belonged 
to the estate of Mr. Morgan's mother. At 
the age of sixteen he went before the mast, 
continuing a sailor's life on his father's vessel 
until he was made second mate. In politics 
he was a Republican. Following in the foot- 
steps of his father, he became a Royal Arch 
Mason. His later years were spent as a 
gentleman of wealth and leisure, having no 
business but the care of his father's estate. 
He owned a good yacht, in which he enjoyed 
many a sail and fishing excursion. 

On February 6, 1870, Mr. Morgan was mar- 
ried to Frances A. Crumb, of Mystic, Conn. 
Her parents, Albert and Amanda (Davis) 
Crumb, are now residents of Groton. Her 
brother, Theodore Crumb, died in early man- 
hood; and her sister is now Mrs. Charles Fair- 
banks, of Groton. The only child of Mr. and 
Mrs. Morgan, Emma L., now the wife of 
Harry A. La Montagne, resides in New York 
City. Mr. Morgan died May 24, 1897. He 




was a man of fine physique, and he was much 
esteemed by the community for his kindness 
and generosity. 

HARLES E. MAINE, the well-known 
contractor and builder, of Voluntown, 
Conn., now serving as Representa- 
tive to the State legislature, was born in the 
town of Ledyard, New London County, on 
February 1, 1827, son of Samuel and Patty 
(Tift) Maine. 

Samuel Maine, Sr., father of Samuel, above 
named, is a prosperous farmer of Ledyard. 
His wife, Sally Chapman, who was a native 
of Rhode Island, died at the age of eighty; 
and he, surviving her some five years, died at 
the age of eighty-five or eighry-six. Their 
remains rest in the family burial-ground, near 
the farm in Ledyard. Of their eight chil- 
dren, six grew to mature years, and two are 
living. One son, Warren Maine, is a farmer 
at Ledyard, living near the old homestead; 
and Sally Ann Maine, his sister, resides in 
South Stonington. 

Samuel Maine, second, father of Mr. 
Charles E. Maine, was born in 1803, and died 
in 1S85. His grave is at Milltown. He was 
a man of prominence and active in town 
affairs, serving in various official capacities 
and with rare fidelity and ability. His wife, 
Patty, who died in 1880, at the age of 
seventy, was born in South Stonington, and 
was about his age. They were married in 
1823, and had a family of three sons and three 
daughters — Samuel L., Charles E., Eliza, 
Susan, Orrin, and Orilla. Samuel L. , the 
eldest child, born in 1824, is a farmer resid- 
ing in North Stonington. Eliza is the widow 
of Daniel Holderidge. She has a number of 
children, and is still living in her native 
town. Susan, who has no children, is the 
wife of Erastus Park, and resides at North 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



409 



Stonington. The two youngesl children were 
twins, and arc now deceased. Orrin died on 
September 15. (889, and his widow is living in 
this town. Orilla was the wife of John Frink. 

Alter obtaining a fair education in the 
public schools, Mr. Charles E. Maine taught 
school for one winter term in Voluntown. 
He subsequently made his home in Norwich 
until 1859, when he bought at auction the 
residence property at Voluntown where he 
now makes his home. He has decided me- 
chanical ability; and for twenty years he has 
had charge of the mechanical department of 
the Briggs Manufacturing Company, of Vol- 
untown, at a good salary. 

When twenty-three years of aye Mr. Maine 
married Sarah Crary. whose father, James 
Crary, had died when she was very young. 
Six children were horn of this marriage. A 
dan- liter, Martha, died at the age of two 
-: and twin children, Byron and Bertha, 
died at the age of a year and a half. The 
three now living are: Mis. Elizabeth Tyler, 
who has lost one daughter, and has living a 
son and a daughter; Charles Edwin Maine. 
who has a wile and a son, Charles Edwin, 
Jr. : and Lucy, who is the wife of Charles 
Hazard, of Rhode Island, and is residing in 
Bayonne, N.J. Four of the eight children 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Hazard are living. Mr. 
Mi i ne's two eldest children, Elizabeth and 
Charles, live near him. Their mother died 
in 1875, at forty-four years of age; and on 
February 7, 1876, Mr. Maine was united in 
marriage with Mary E. Colgrove, of Volun- 
town, daughter of Christopher ami Lydia 
(Rouse) Colgrove. Mrs. Maine comes of an 
educated and talented family, and was a 
her before her marriage. Her eldest 
brother, Dr. Charles H. Col-rove, is a 
cessful and prominent physician of Williman- 
tic, and has accumulated a handsome fortune. 



Mr. Maine is nominally a Democrat, hut 
was elected to office by many Republican 
votes when John E. Lewis received one hun- 
dred and sixty Republican majority. He has 
been Seh lor many years, Town Clerk 

for ten years, and for many years he has been 
on the Board of Reliei and a Justice of the 
I'M,. He lias made out a large number of 
. and has married many couples. 
He was in the legislature in [861 and 1874, 
and is now serving for the term of 1897. 




USTIN J. BUSH, lawyer, farmer, and 
miller, now serving his third term as 
Probate Judge, was bom on April 
7, 1853, on the farm in East Lyme upon 
which he now resides, son of Ira A. and Ma- 
tilda P. (Austin) Bush. The family is of 
English origin; and its early representatives 
in America were among the first settlers of 
Wethersfield, Conn. On the maternal side, 
it is said, the Judge is of German descent. 

Amaziah Bush, great-grandfather of Judge 
Bush, married first Miss Lay; for his second 
wife, a Smith, sister of Captain Simon Smith; 
and for his third wife, Dorothy Dennison, of 
Essex, the mother of the Judge's grandfather, 
Amasa, who was her only child. Grandfather 
Amasa Bush, born May 21, 1742, was a 
tanner and miller, owning the old mill built 
in 1690, the earliest in the county with the 
exception of the old mill in New London built 
in 1650. He died at the age of fifty -six yi 
His wife was before marriage Lucretia May- 
nard, of Norwich. She bore him eight chil- 
dren, namely: B born in 1804, who 
West and is supposed to be still living: 
Ira A., the Judge's lather, who was the sec- 
ond child: Abide; Jerry I'".; Nancy, who 
married Solomon Adams, ami went to Michi- 



4io 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



gan ; Maria; Angeline; and Emmeline. All 

married, and nearly all had families. Ira and 
Abbie are now deceased. Ira A. Bush was a 
farmer, owning one hundred acres with the 
mill site and pond on Pattagansett Creek, 
where the dam was built in 1690. He died 
in 1888, a man universally respected and hav- 
ing the good will of his townsmen. His wife, 
who was a devoted member of the Baptist 
church, was a native of New Bedford, Mass., 
born April 27, 18 14, and married September 
20, 1832. She died January 28, 1890, and is 
buried in the churchyard at Niantic. Of her 
eight children four sons and two daughters 
grew to maturity. One son, William P. 
Bush, studied medicine at the Albany Medical 
School, and was surgeon in the Sixty-first 
New York Regiment during the Civil War 
until his death at Georgetown from overwork 
at the battle of Gettysburg. He was only 
thirty years of age. He left a wife and one 
son. The living children of Ira A. and Ma- 
tilda P. Bush are: Mary L., widow of Francis 
E. Morgan, residing in Niantic at the old 
home; Julius M., in Pasadena, Cal. ; and 
Judge Bush, of East Lyme. 

Austin J. Bush attended the district schools 
until twelve years of age, when he was sent to 
the grammar and high schools at New Lon- 
don. Later he studied for a year in Suffield 
and for two years at Williston Seminary in 
Easthampton, Mass. He then read law for a 
year with Pettis & Davis, of Meadville, Pa., 
and after returning home read a year with 
T. C. Coogan at Enfield, Conn. Entering 
Vale Law School in the fall of 1878, he took 
the course in one year; and in June, 1879, he 
was admitted to the practice of his profession 
in the Connecticut and United States courts. 

On the 30th of December, 1878, Judge 
Bush was united in marriage to Mary Jo- 
sephine Stine, of Philadelphia, Pa., daughter 



of Charles Stine. He has lived in different 
places, having spent some time in Colorado 
and in Florida. I^rom 1882 to 1887 he was 
Special Examiner of Pensions in the New 
England and Middle States, and since 1887 
he and his family have lived at the old home- 
stead. They have lost two children, an in- 
fant son and infant daughter. The living 
children are: Mary Josephine Bush, who is at 
home and attending school ; and Wait Bush, a 
maiden of thirteen, who was named for Colo- 
nel John T. Wait, and is now a pupil in the 
high school. 

Judge Bush is a Republican. In 1888 he 
was elected Town Clerk, and in 1892 Judge 
of Probate. Having been twice re-elected 
since, he is now serving on his third term. 
He is interested in agriculture, and carries on 
considerable farming. He also operates the 
mill. As a legal adviser he has the confi- 
dence of a wide circle of clients, and he is one 
of the most respected and influential citizens 
of the town. 




jRS. LYDIA WILLIAMS NOYES, 

of Mystic, Conn., whose hus- 
band, Captain Benjamin Franklin 
Noyes, died in Savannah, Ga., June 18, 1879, 
is the daughter of Sanford Avery and Lucy 
(Stanton) Williams, and comes from old and 
substantial Colonial stock, one line of her an- 
cestry reaching back to the "Mayflower" Pil- 
grims, and several lines including notable 
Revolutionary patriots. One of her great- 
great-grar.dfathers, Elnathan Perkins, perished 
in the P"ort Griswold massacre. He went to 
the fort with his four sons; and all were killed 
but one son, who was one of the few rescued. 
Two of her great-grandfathers, Captain John 
Williams and Captain Amos Stanton, were 
also killed the same day. Mrs. Noyes is in 
possession of the muster-roll of Captain Amos 




BENJAMIN' F. NOYES. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



4'3 



Stanton in the original handwriting, < 
November 9, 1777. She takes much interesl 
in tracing back and preserving the family 
history. Her great -grandmother, Eunice 
Williams, wife of Richard Williams, reared 
four suns; namely, Paul, Barnabus, Sanford, 
Silas; and one daughter, named Prudence, 
who married a Halsey. Barnabus and Paul 
Williams settled in Akron, Ohio; Sanford 
was wounded at Fort Griswold; Silas Will- 
iams was the grandfather of Mrs. Noyes. Her 
lather, Sanford Avery Williams, was a farmer 
in Groton. He died in 1871, at the age of 
sixty-five; and her mother died in 1 S77, at the 
age of sixty-six. Of their four daughters, 
Lydia, Betsey, Prudence, and Mary, the third 
died at the age of four; Betsey married Amos 
Giles Stanton, and died at the old home in 
Groton in September, 1894, in the fifty-ninth 
year of her age, leaving three sons and two 
daughters; and Mai)' Prudence, the youngest, 
died at the age of twenty-two years. 

Lydia, the eldest, was married to Benjamin 
F. Noyes on the thirteenth day of August, 
[N54, at her father's home. Mr. Noyes was 
born in the town of Stonington. Until six- 
teen years old he lived on a farm. lie then 
shipped before the mast on a whaling-vessel 
called the "Coriolanus," of Mystic, Captain 
Gustavus Appleman, and made a three years' 
voyage. His next trip was as boat steerer on 
the bark '•United States," Captain Barnum, 
out for sea elephants, for eighteen months. 
From this time on he was promoted until he 
became master and part owner of the vessels 
in which he sailed. At the time of his death, 
which occurred at the age of fifty-one, Captain 
s was in charge of the schooner 
"Chainer." He was a Master Mason in Nor- 
wich and afterward in Mystic. He was a 
member of the Baptist church. 

Mrs. Noyes accompanied her husband on 



three different voyages, two South, and one 
across the Atlantic to Bordeaux, France; but 

all seemed long to her, as she was unable to 
overcome her seasickness. She lost her eld- 
on, Sanford Frank, at tin two 
She has two living children: Edith 
May, wife of Christophei Morgan, who has 
two children; and Charles Williams Noyes, 
who married Miry T. Foote, of Mystic, and 
who now owns and manages a greenhouse in 
Prophetstown, Whiteside Count}, 111. 

Mrs. Noyes is a communicant of the Epis- 
copal church. While not in robust health, 
except for her healing, which has been im- 
paired of late, she preserves a good degree of 
youthful vigor. Her intelligence and loveli- 
ness of character have endeared her to many 
friends. Mrs. Noyes and her daughter are 
both members of the Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, and Mrs. Morgan for the 
past two years has held the office of Regent of 
the Fanny Ledyard Chapter. These ladies 
are also numbered among the posterity of two 
of the most famous of the Pilgrims who 
landed on Plymouth Rock on Forefathers' 
Day, 1620 — John Alden and Priscilla Mul- 
lins — Mrs. Noyes tracing her lineage to the 
historic pair through her mother, Lucy Stan- 
ton Williams. Mrs. Morgan is a member of 
the Society of Mayflower Descendants. 




1I.I.IAM HERBERT BUSH,* a 

talented musician of New London, 
Conn., the sou of Aaron and Hen- 
rietta (Parkhurst) Hush, is a native of this 
city. His grandfather, Anson Bush, was born 
in Connecticut. He was a boss ship-rL 
and worked for the old established firm of 
llovens & Williams. lie was a member of 
the Methodist church in New London, wdiere 
he died in 1880. 



4M 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Mis son Aaron was born in 1832, and died 
on Easter Sunday in 1893. He married 
Henrietta, a daughter of John Parkhurst. 
Her grandfather Parkhurst was a bearer of 
despatches in the Revolutionary War. Both 
Mr. and Airs. Aaron Bush were Methodists in 
religious belief, and Mr. Bush was an active 
worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church of 
New London. They had eight children, only 
three of whom attained maturity, namely: 
William Herbert, the second-born son and the 
subject of this sketch; Ida M., a graduate of 
the high school, living in this city; and 
Charles. 

William Herbert, the elder of the two 
brothers now living, received a general educa- 
tion in the public schools, which he attended 
until he was fifteen years of age, when his 
musical education began under the direction 
of Charles B. Jennings, of New London. He 
afterward took lessons on both organ and 
piano of Charles S. Elliot, who had been a 
pupil of the great Guilmant, of Paris; and 
later he went to New York to study, where his 
her was Samuel P. Warren, for twenty- 
five years the organist of Trinity Church. 
He continued under the instruction of Mr. 
Warren for three years; and at the end of that 
time he returned to New London, where he 
has been a successful teacher of both organ 
and piano ever since. He has been the organ- 
ist of the Second Congregational Church for 
eleven years and master of the choir for three 
years. Mr. Bush has given recitals in his na- 
tive city and in other places, which have been 
most successful, his interpretation of the great 
masters being sympathetic and impressive. 
He married Julia De Sant, of New London, 
February 14, [887. Mrs. Bush is a woman of 
an artistic temperament and much musical 
ability. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bush are mem- 
bers of the Second Congregational Church. 



/^TeORGE E. FELLOWS,* of Nor- 
\ [3 I wich, Superintendent of Streets, was 
born in New London, August 9, 
1853, his parents being Joshua E. and Eunice 
H. (Hempstead) Fellows. His grandfather, 
Robert Fellows, was Sheriff of New London 
County, and ran the old grist-mill in New 
London. Robert was a man of magnificent 
physique, standing six feet, two inches, and 
with a bod\- perfectly proportioned. He died 
about 1859. His wife, whose name in 
maidenhood was Hannah Williams, died at an 
advanced age; and both are buried in Cedar 
Grove Cemetery in New London. They had a 
family of eight sons and one daughter, most of 
whom grew to maturity. Joshua E. Fellows 
was born in Stonington in 1825, and came to 
this town about 1888. He was a mason and 
contractor, and built several brick churches 
and other edifices in New London and Nor- 
wich, among them the Broadway Congrega- 
tional Church, with its steeple two hundred 
feet high, the Catholic school-house, and the 
annex to the Broadway school-house. He 
was a non-commissioned officer in the Volun- 
teer Infantry during the Civil War, and 
served for a year. He died February 2, 1885. 
His wife, Eunice, whom he married about 
1845, was a descendant of one of the first fam- 
ilies of this section. She is now residing 
with her two daughters in Norwich. Of her 
family of six children three are living, 
namely: Anna E., who has been for several 
years a teacher in Norwich; George E., whose 
name appears at the head of this sketch; and 
Elizabeth Hannah, a stenographer and type- 
writer, now filling an important position with 
the Norwich Bleachery Company. Joshua 
Fellows was a Methodist in religious faith, 
and his wife and daughters are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 

George E. Fellows learned the mason's 



niOGR A P 1 1 1 CA L R K.VI E\V 



■I "5 



trade in his youth, and subsequently worked 
with his father. After the death of the latter 
he carried on the business until 1894, when 
he was appointed to the responsible position 
he now holds. He has some forty miles ol 
t under his charge, and employs from 
thirty-nine to one hundred men and from five 
to ten double teams. Mr. Fellows is a 
Mason, and has advanced as far as the Coun- 
cil. In politics he is a Republican, but has 
never sought office nor held it until being 
nmissioner. 
On November 25. i S 7 5 , Mr. Fellows was 
united in marriage with Lila E. Harvey, of 
Preston, daughter of Henry Harvey, now de- 
d. Mrs. Fellows has one sister and two 
brothers, namely: Isabella, wife of John E. 
Sherman, of Norwich; Frederick A., living in 
Preston; and Clinton A., of Norwich. Mr. 
and Mrs. Fellows have lost a daughter, Alice, 
who died at the age of four years. They have 
three living children: Edith A., who is now 
pin suing a course in stenography and t 
writing; Lillic Louise, residing at home and 
attending school: and George Robert, a lad ol 
nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Fellows reside in 
the large frame house at 343 Franklin Street, 
the erection of which was begun by Mr. 
Joshua Fellows. 




AJOR EUGENF A. BANCROFT,* 
of New London, formerly of the 
Fourth Artillery Corps of the 
United States Army, was born in Boston, 
Mass., June 17, 1825, the son of Thomas and 
Betsey (Tileston) Bancroft. His great-grand- 
father was Thomas Bancroft, and his grand- 
father. Aaron Bancroft, of Boston. At hast 
one member of the family fought in the Revo- 
lutionary War, Captain Bancroft, who partici- 
pated in the battle of Bunker Hill. 



Thomas Bam roft, the Major's father, was 
bom in Boston in 1798, and died there in 
[886. His first wife, Betsey Tileston, died 
in her twenty-second year in 1828, leaving 

two children — Eugene and an infanl daugh- 
ter. The daughter died in early married life. 
Mr. Bancroft and his second wile, Eliza Os- 
born, reared two sons and two daughters. Of 
this family three are living, namely: the two 
daughters; and a son. Thomas J., who is an 
Assessor in Boston. 

Major Eugene A. Bancroft was given gi 
educational advantages, finishing his com 
study at the Chauncy Hall School. Boston. 
From 1849 to 1856 he was in the employ of 
the Adams Express Company in California. 
going via New Oilcans and Texas, the jour- 
ney consuming six months; and in 1S61 he 
began his military career, enlisting in the 
Sturgis Rifles in Chicago. On October 24 of 
that year he was commissioned Second Lieu- 
tenant in the regular army; on June 25. 1 
he was brevetted First Lieutenant for gallan- 
try near Fair Oaks, Va. ; on L 
1862, he was commissioned First Lieutenant: 
and on July 3, 1863, brevet was conferred 
upon him for bravery at Gettysburg. Though 
not a physically strong man, Majot Bancroft 
has the resolute will, the nerve and fire, that 
characterize leaders of men; and. whem 
danger was to be faced, he was found in the 
thickest of the fray. The rank of Captain of 
the Fifteenth Infantry was offered him Janu- 
ary 22, 1867; but he declined it- 'ting, 
however, the Captaincy of the Fourth Artil- 
lery, April 26, 1873. He was in active 
vice against the Indians in the West and at 
Clear Water, Idaho, was severely wounded by a 
gunshot in the left arm. left lung, and thorax. 
For gallant conduct at this time he received 
his major's brevet. He went to Europe on a 
pleasure trip in 1873, but within a few 



4i 6 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



months was recalled, and ordered to join the 
army in the West. Stationed for some time 
in California, he was two years in Sitka and 
different parts of Alaska, spending nine years 
in all in the Far West. On June 17, 1889, 
his sixty-fourth birthday, he was honorably 
discharged, having attained the age limit for 
active military service. Though not a con- 
firmed invalid. Major Bancroft suffers from 
physical disability to some extent, caused by 
the hardships and exposure of army life, and 
his hearing is impaired by climatic causes; 
but he is constitutionally cheerful, keen, and 
witty, and enjoys heartily a good joke or 
story. In all things he is a typical Yankee 
soldier. 

Major Bancroft was married June 19, 1861, 
to Miss Eleanor Croes, a native of St. 
Charles, 111., daughter of Ralph V. M. and 
Anna N. (Blanchard) Croes. Mr. Croes died 
in Chicago in 1855. His widow is yet living. 
Ten children have been given to Major Ban- 
croft and his wife, and nine of them are liv- 
ing: Anna B., wife of William D. Coit, pros- 
ecuting attorney of New London; Thomas 
Eugene, in New York City, unmarried; 
Eleanor, a graduate of the New London High 
School; Henry Edward, Mary Edith, Bessie 
Tileston, Charlotte J., Helen McDowell, and 
George Croes. ten years of age, all with their 
parents. In politics the Major favors the Re- 
publican side. He is a Master Mason. 




LLEN TIFFANY,* a carpenter by 
trade, now engaged in general farm- 
ing, was born at his present home 
in Salem, New London County, Conn., Au- 
gust 25, [843. His parents were William S. 
and Maria (IX- Wolf) Tiffany- His paternal 
grandfather was Eleazer Tiffany, a farmer of 
this place, who died in 1S51, past eighty 



years of age. He had five sons and three 
daughters, all of whom lived to an old age. 
The last of the family was Mrs. Palmer, of 
Stonington, a widow, now deceased. 

William S. Tiffany married first a Miss 
Atwater. She died leaving one daughter. 
By his second wife, who was a sister of Ed- 
ward De Wolf, he had five children, namely : 
Allen and his sister, Ellen E. , who became 
the wife of Joshua Enos; Martha M., wife of 
George Priest; John F., who is a widower, 
and makes his home with his brother Allen; 
and Joseph F., who died in 1870, at the age of 
twenty-one. The mother died February 15, 
1885, in her seventy-sixth year, and the father 
died in September, 1891, after leading the 
life of an invalid for twenty years. In relig- 
ious belief and affiliation both parents were 
Congregationalists. 

Allen Tiffany received a common-school ed- 
ucation, and remained at home until twenty- 
one years of age. He worked at carpentering 
under his father, who was also a wheelwright; 
and he afterward was engaged for fourteen 
years in constructing the wood-work of steam 
printing presses in Norwich. He returned to 
the home farm in December of the year 1884; 
and since his father's death he has carried on 
the farm, which was his inheritance, keeping 
the [dace up in good style, the new buildings 
being of his own erection. 

He married on Thanksgiving Day, 1871. 
Ann E. Stanton, of Ledyard, daughter of 
Henry W. and Lydia E. Chesebro, of Ston- 
ington. Four children have been born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Tiffany, as follows: Nellie M., of 
New London; Jennie M., who is still at home 
and is her mother's right hand helper; George 
1'". A., who. though but sixteen years old, is 
six feet in stature, like his father; and Mattie 
E., the youngest, a bright child of seven 
years. In politics Mr. Tiffany is a Republican. 



BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEW 



419 



6 1 HOMAS DRUMMOND, a well-known 
I steam boiler manufacturer of New 
London, who resides at 10 Pear] 
Street, was horn in Ireland, September 16, 
[833, son of Joseph and Catherine (Caffrey) 
Drummond. The parents, who were in hum- 
circumstances, came to America practi- 
cally without means, bringing with them two 
of their seven children, five of whom were 
--"us; namely, Thomas. Joseph, James, Will- 
iam, and George. Settling in Rhode Island, 
Joseph Drummond turned his attention to 
farming, which occupation he followed for 
twenty years. He died in 1.S85, at the 1 

ty-thre'e, surviving his wife, who lived to 
he seventy-five, three years. Of his five sons 
I'll has been a resident of San Francisco 
since [856; James is a house carpenter in 
Providence, R.I. ; William is also a resilient 
of that city: and George is a farmer in Ash- 
ford, Conn. 

Thomas Drummond attended the public 
"ds, and at the age of thirteen began to 
Karn the boiler-making trade with Thurston, 
ne & Co., of Providence, R.I. After 
working then- fur some years and acquiring a 
good knowledge of tile trade, he came to New- 
London, and for ten years was foreman of the 
Albertson & Douglas firm in this city, later 
serving two vears in a similar capacity for the 
Burden Iron Works, where he had the super- 
vision of nearly one hundred men. He was 
one of tin- skilled mechanics employed on the 
Last River Bridge in [856. In 1S72 he 
in business on his own account in Nor- 
wich. Conn., where he remained some years, 
returning to New London in December, 1XN5. 
For the past twelve years he has condui 
business at 53 Water Street, where he em- 
ploys from ten to fifty men according to the 
times. I I,- is also a director of the Connecti- 
cut Loom Company. In politics he is a Re- 



publican, having been previous to the Civil 
War a radical abolitionist. He has served as 
State Boiler tnspectoi for eleven years, lb- 
belongs to the .Masonic order, being a mei 
of the Chapter. R. A. M. 

Mr. Drummond married Mary A. Kneff, "I 
Eastport, Me., and she became tin- mother ol 
eight children, five of whom are living, 
namely: Rebecca Frances; Sarah Charlotte, 
now Mrs. Andrew Welton, of Springfield, 
Mass.; Mary A., a trained nurse; Emma W., 
an employee in the R. H. White store, Bos- 
ton; and Joseph Johnson Drummond, who is a 
resident of Stockton, Cal. Two eh i Mien died 
in infancy: and Thomas R., who was unmar- 
ried, was drowned when twenty-eight \ 
old at Fort Townsend, Wash., in 1888. 
The mother died in Somerville, Mass., in 
1871. In May, [884, Mr. Drummond mar- 
ried for his second wife Mrs. Charlotte A. 
(Beckwith) Collins, of this city. 



AMES HOWLAND STIVERS,* one 

of the leading merchants of Stonington 
borough, was born in the town of St 
ington, Conn., May 22, 1861, and is a son of 
the late Captain John Randall Stivers. The 
family is of German origin, and its represent- 
atives in this country have been possi ssed of 
many of the solid and enduring qualities for 
which the German race is so widely known. 

Daniel Stivers, grandfather oi Captain 
Stivers, lived in New Jersey. His son I 
born at Newark, N.J., was a pioneer settler 
in one of the Middle Western States. John 
Randall Stivers, father of James I low land, 
was born near Utica. N.Y., on January S, 
1825, and died April 1. [893. When he- 
was but a small child, his parents removed 
to the West; and tins' remained there until 
the death of the father a few years later. The 



420 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



widow then returned with her young children 
to New York State; and John, being the eld- 
est, helped to support the family until his 
mother married again. This was in 1843; 
and the youth, then nearly eighteen years of 
age, decided to strike out for himself. He 
went to New York City, and shipped for a 
whaling voyage, and at that time met Mr. 
Horace Trumbull, who was in New York on 
business for his father. Young Stivers came 
to Stonington to join his vessel, which was 
the old "United States," then being fitted out 
for a cruise by the firm of Stanton & Trum- 
bull. 

He continued in the whaling business for 
nearly forty years, until 1880, in the employ 
of Stanton & Trumbull or of Tabor, Gordon & 
Co., of New Bedford, occupying the position 
of either chief or first officer on nearly every 
voyage. Captain Stivers had many exciting 
and hazardous experiences, being at one time 
caught and shut up in one of the ice floes 
in the Arctic Ocean. He was on the bark 
"Henry Tabor," of New Bedford, and was a 
very popular captain. In the year 1880 he 
retired from the whaling business, and went 
to New Britain, where his family had lived 
for some time. A few months afterward he 
came to the borough, and engaged in the 
grocery business. In this he was remarkably 
successful, and in a few years managed, by 
fair dealing and courteous manners, aided by 
his amiable and genial personality, to build 
up a large and paying business. Captain 
Stivers was not a member of any social order 
or fraternity, but was a vestryman of Calvary 
Episcopal Chinch. His death was a severe 
loss to the church as well as to the com- 
munity. 

One of Captain Stivers's brothers, Edwin J. 
Stivers, now in New York City, was a volun- 
teer soldier in the Civil War, having previ- 



ously been a locomotive engineer. He went 
to the front in the early part of the war, and 
rose from the rank of private to that of First 
Lieutenant. He remained in the regular 
army for several years after the close of the 
war, receiving a Captain's commission, and 
was stationed at Fort Snelling. He was re- 
tired about 1888. 

Mr. James Howland Stivers is the second 
of the three sons of Captain Stivers. The 
eldest-born, John Orrin Stivers, is engaged in 
mining in Denver, Col., and is married, and 
has a family. The youngest is Francis 
Edwin, of West Haven, Conn., who is in the 
auditor's department of the railroad. James 
attended the common schools here for some 
years and later the New Britain High School, 
from which he was graduated. He then en- 
tered the grocery of his father, and has been 
engaged in the business to the present time, 
taking full charge since the death of his 
father. 

On the 2d of June, 1893, Mr. Stivers mar- 
ried Lucy Annie, daughter of John F. and 
Eliza A. (Sherman) Sherman, her father and 
mother having the same name, but belong- 
ing to different families. Both were born in 
the township of Kingston, R.I. They were 
married there in 1864, and settled at James- 
town, R.I., on Conanticut Island, where Mr. 
Sherman became owner of a large farm. He 
was a soldier in the Civil War, enlisting for 
nine months in the Twelfth Regiment of 
Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, Company 
K. and serving for thirteen months. Fie was 
in the battle of Fredericksburg, and, though 
receiving shot in his clothing and being 
stunned by flying sods, he was personally un- 
injured. His health was impaired, however, 
by exposure and hardship; and he is now a 
pensioner. 

Mr. and Mrs. Sherman have three children: 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 



•(-> 



John F., Jr., in Lebanon, Conn. ; Mrs. 
Stivers; and Isaac Sherman, now in Westerly, 
R.I. On her mother's side .Mis. Stivers is 
descended, it is said, from General Nathaniel 
Greene and Governor Benedict Arnold, of 
Rhode Island. Two of her direct ancestors 
were commissioned officers of the Revolution- 
ary War. She is thus eligible for member- 
ship in the Society of the Daughters of the 
Revolution. 



7""\IIARI.F.S N. CHAMPLIN,* a promi- 

I Sj nent citizen of Norwich, Conn., re- 

vi 9 ^ siding near Thamesville, is a native 

of this city, and was born in 1849, his 
parents being Joseph anil Louise (Dewey) 
Champlin. The Champlin family came to 
this part of the country from the State of 
Rhode Island in 1784. Nathan Champlin 
was brought here when four years old by his 
parents, Rowland and Anna (Babcock) 
Champlin, who settled at Greenville, and kept 
a large boarding-house. 

Nathan married I.ydia Woodward, of Can- 
terbury, Conn., and began life in a humble 
and primitive way in his new ami unfinished 
house on West .Main Street. He was a car- 
penter, and became a prosperous contractor 
and builder. His family consisted of seven 
sons and five daughters. One son is living, 
and resides at 255 West .Main Street, on the 
land where his father settled. 

Joseph Champlin, father of Mr. Charles N. , 
was born in Norwich about 1S22, and died in 
1851. His wife was left a widow with three 
children, and never remarried. She died in 
1S77, at the age of forty-eight. The children 
were: Maria, who married Thomas Potter, and 
died in 1870, at the age of twenty-three years ; 
Charles N., the subject of this sketch; and 
Lydia, who died at the age of nineteen. 

Charles Champlin attended the common 



schools, but received only a limited education, 
as at the age of ten years he was obliged 1" 
work dining the' summer: anil when fir 
years of age he left school altogether, and was 
obliged to become self-supporting. Winn he 
was ten years old he went to live in the fam- 
ily of Ira Gifford, a farmer of this town, and 
remained with him seven years. He 1 
the business in which he is at present en- 
gaged twenty-six years ago, driving a bone 
wagon for his wife's father, and some sixteen 
years since succeeded to the management of 
the business. The factory on his farm has 
live kettles. He runs some three or four 
wagons, and keeps ten horses in use. Mr. 
Champlin has enlarged and improved both the 
house and the barn on his estate, and has now 
a most pleasant and comfortable home. His 
farm consists of seventy acres, and is mostly 
in grass and pasture land. Mr. Champlin is 
known as one of the progressive and thrifty 
citizens of this town, and enjoys unusual es- 
teem. In politics he is a Republican. 

On September 16, 1874, Mr. Champlin 
united in marriage with Nellie F., daughter 
of E. A. and Elizabeth (Howard) Dudley. 
Mr. and Mrs. Champlin have one child, Addie 
L., a rosy-cheeked young lady "I fourteen 
years and a student in the Norwich Free 
School. 




ATTAIN GEORGE W. BECK 
WITH,* keeper of the light-house 

on Stonington Breakwater, was horn 
April 1, 1845, in Salem. Conn., a son 
P. Beckwith. His grandfather, William 
Beckwith, was a lifelong farmer in Watcrluiry, 
this State. 

Ezra P. Beckwith was born in New London, 
Conn., in 1S17, and died at Willimantic, 
Conn., in 1884. He was a stone-cutter by 
trade, expert in the use of tools, and worked 



1-- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



at his chosen occupation in Norwich and 
Wester]}'. In 1842 he married Harriet De 
Wolfe, of Hadlyme, in the town of Lyme, 
New London County, Conn., a daughter of 
William De Wolfe, a quarryman. Her father 
was one of a family of seven children born to 
his mother, who attained the venerable age of 
ninety-six years, and was full of life and vigor 
to the close of her days. Her maiden name 
was Betsey Woods. William De Wolfe mar- 
ried Hannah Bailey, and had four children, 
all of whom are living, namely: William De 
Wolfe, of Salem, Conn., now seventy-four 
years old ; Albert, also a farmer in the same 
town, seventy-two years of age; Harriet, for- 
merly Mrs. Beckwith, now Mrs. Hibbard, 
nearly seventy years old ; and Mrs. Sarah 
Minor, the youngest of the family. Ezra P. 
and Harriet (De Wolfe) Beckwith reared three 
children, namely: Dr. Beckwith, a practising 
physician, who died in 1886, aged thirty-five 
years, leaving four orphan children, his wife 
having died previously; George W. , the 
special subject of this brief biography; and 
Hattie, wife of Thomas Turner, of Oakdale, 
Mass. The mother, after living a widow for 
some time, married for her second husband 
John Hibbard, who died in 1885, after five 
years of acute suffering from rheumatism. 
He was a son of Andrew Hibbard, of Nor- 
wich, Conn. John Hibbard was a mechanical 
engineer, and during and after the Civil War 
was an engineer in the United States navy. 
His widow now draws a pension. 

George W. Beckwith was educated in the 
common schools of Salem, and at the age of 
twenty-one shipped in the cabin as steward of 
a vessel, a capacity in which he served twenty 
years. Previous to this time, however, he 
served nine months as a private in Company 
G, Twenty-seventh Connecticut Volunteer In- 
fantry, having enlisted in October, 1862. 



He was an active participant in two battles, 
but was neither wounded nor captured. 
While a steward Mr. Beckwith visited every 
clime and zone, going twice, in 1874 and 
1876, to Greenland, where he spent sixteen 
months among the Esquimaux for his health. 
For the past nine years he has been in the 
government service, at first as keeper of the 
Penfield Light -house and in recent years 
keeper of the Stonington Breakwater Light- 
house, where he is discharging the duties of 
his responsible position with conscientious 
fidelity and ability. Captain Beckwith is a 
member of Sedgwick Post, No. 1, G. A. R., 
and is a pensioner of the government. 



JB 



ANIEL FRASER, a retired black- 
smith of New London, Conn., is a 
native of Scotland. He was born 
in Dunkeld, Perthshire, June 23, 1824, and is 
descended from a line of men sturdy and 
strong, his ancestors for twelve generations 
having been blacksmiths. His parents were 
Alexander Fraser and Betsey Newton Lang- 
lands Fraser. The family genealogy traces 
back to the Fraser who fought on the field of 
Bannockburn in 13 14. 

Donald Fraser, great-grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this biographical sketch, took an ac- 
tive part in the rebellion of 1745, and lost 
his life in the prime of manhood by being 
drowned in Loch Ness in a gallant attempt 
to carry provisions to Prince Charles Stuart. 
Grandfather Fraser was his son, Donald, Jr., 
a blacksmith, who had a family of seven sons 
and four daughters. It is said that the Mayor 
of Perth caused the bells of the city to be rung 
one evening in honor of Donald and his seven 
stalwart sons, who were walking together after 
supper, all fine-looking men — a sight worth 
seeing. Grandfather Fraser lived to be 




WIXF1ELD S. DeWOLF 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



1-5 



ninety-six years old. His grave is in Perth, 
in Gray Friars' Churchyard. Alexander 
Fraser, above named, one of his seven sons, 
died in 1845, at the age of fifty-two, having 
contracted the cholera. His wife was the 
liter of Andrew Langlands, from the bor- 
ders ol England. 

Daniel Fraser left school when only twelve 
old, and at that age began to learn his 
trade, serving a regular apprenticeship of 
seven years in a large shop in Dundee, receiv- 
ing the first year sixty-two and one-half cents 
week, and the last year two dollars and fifty 
cents per week. In [842, when but nineteen 
years old, he married, his bride being but 
seventeen. In 1850 they came to America, 
sailing on the ship "Hudson " from Glasgow 
to New York City, and being ten weeks and 
two days on the passage, Mr. Fraser settled 
in Mast New London on Winthrop Point, 
where he bought some land, on which he has 
now three buildings. For thirty -two years he 
worked in one shop, for Albertson & Douglass, 
and at one forge. Some ten years ago he 
built his shop on his own land. 

Mr. Fraser's wile was before marriage Isa- 
bella Procter. Her parents were John Procter, 
a farmer of Dundee, Scotland, and his wife, 
Mary Ann Baker. Peter Baker, Mrs. Fraser's 
maternal grandfather, was an officer in the 
battle of Waterloo. Mr. Procter died at the 
age of forty-eight, leaving his widow with 
three children — Mrs. Fraser and her two 
brothers — James Procter living in New I. cm- 
don, and Alexander in Peck Street, Norwich. 
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Fraser are: 
Donald, a farmer and blacksmith, and father 
of three children; Isabella, living near her 
parents, widow oi James Hutchinson and 
mother of one son and two daughters; Jane, 
wife of Alexander YVaite, of blast New Lon- 
don; Alexander, a blacksmith in this place, 



unmarried: Margaret, wife of Andrew Mc- 
Laughlin, oi this city, and mothei oi four 

children: James, living at home, unmarried; 
Elizabeth, now Mrs. William (leer, of New 
London, and mother of three children; and 
Almira, living at home. Donald Frasei was 
a volunteer soldier in the late war, enlisting 
for nine months and serving a year. He was 
wounded three times at Port Hudson - in the 
mouth, losing eleven teeth ami a part of his 
jaw, and in the shoulder and knee. He is 
married to Almira Maynard, and has three 
children now living, namely: Daniel; Ida, 
now Mrs. Havens, of Niantic; and Almira, 
who is at home with her parents. Their 
daughter Anna Isabel, wife of Elmer Beck- 
with, of Niantic, died at the age of twenty- 
nine, leaving two children. Mr. and Mrs. 
Daniel Fraser have til teen grandchildren and 
four great-grandchildren. 

I 7 raternally, Mr. Fraser is a Master Mason. 
He is an independent voter, and has been 
prominently connected with the public affairs 
of the city. He was Alderman for eight 
years, Selectman for four years, Common 
Councilman for two years, and Grand Juror 
three terms. During the small-pox scare he 
was on the Board of Health, and took active 
measures lor the securing of proper sanitary 
conditions. In religious belief Mr. Fraser is 
a Presbyterian, while his wife is an Episco- 
palian. 

INFIELD SCOTT DE WOLF, a 
well-known dairy farmer of Preston, 
was born in Montville, on the west 
side of the river which divides New London 
County, on January 8, [862. His parents 
were Orrin R. and Mary (Latimer) De V. 
and his paternal grandparents, Ephraim and 
Elizabeth De Wolf. His lather. Orrin R. He 
Wolf, who was born in Montville in 1828, was 




426 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



a farmer living near Chesterfield, in the 
south-west part of the town, and doing busi- 
ness on a large scale. He owned two farms, 
comprising over four hundred acres of land, 
and kept from forty to fifty cattle, about four 
hundred sheep, and from seven to twelve horses 
of good breed. He died in March, 1895, and 
is buried in Willimantic. His wife, Mary, who 
died in 1868, at the age of forty, is buried at 
Chesterfield. The children of their marriage 
numbered twelve, five sons and seven daugh- 
ters. A son named Wellington died at seven 
years as the result of a scalding accident. 
The five daughters and two sons now living 
maybe briefly mentioned as follows: Alfred 
is in Tolland County; Mary, the wife of Ben- 
jamin A. Fox, resides in East Lyme; Emma, 
the wife of Charles VV. Worthington, resides 
in Preston; Ellen is the wife of George Bach- 
elder, of Norwich ; Frances is the wife of 
Herbert Wheelock, of Willimantic; Winfield 
Scott is the special subject of this biography; 
and Susan is Mrs. Charles Prentiss, of New 
London. Ellen's sister Eleanor, who was the 
wife of Charles Smith, of Willimantic, died in 
the prime of life, leaving one son. 

Winfield S. De Wolf lived on the home 
farm until fourteen years of age, his eldest 
sister, Elizabeth, keeping house and taking 
charge of the family after the death of the 
mother. He subsequently went to live with 
his father's sisters, Emily De Wolf, a maiden 
lady, Lucretia, widow of Jeremiah Harris, and 
Betsey De Wolf, with whom he remained 
three years. When seventeen years of age he 
n to work out by the month at farm labor, 
continuing this from 1879 to 1889. He re- 
ceived at first ten dollars per month for seven 
months, and he then worked for his board with 
the privilege of attending school. During 
the latter years of his experience as a farm 
hand he received as high as three hundred 



dollars a year wages. On April 1, 1889, he 
bought two farms of two hundred acres fur five 
thousand, five hundred dollars, going heavily 
in debt. A year later he sold a hundred acres 
to Dr. Harris, and has now a hundred acres in 
his own farm. On this he has built a pleas- 
ant and comfortable dwelling and a fine set of 
outbuildings. 

In 1889 Mr. De Wolf was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Mary Jane Story, daughter of 
Ebenezer and Mary Esther (Avery) Story. 
Mr. Story died in 1875, at the age of sixty- 
four years; and Mrs. Story died May 14, 1894, 
at the age of sixty-eight, leaving one son 
and four daughters, one of these Mrs. De 
Wolf, all living in this town. Mr. and Mrs. 
De Wolf have two children: Elsie May, born 
May 2 1, 1890, now in her eighth year: and 
Ebenezer Story De Wolf, born May 18, 1896, 
a beautiful and intelligent little child. In 
politics Mr. De Wolf is a Republican; but he 
has never cared to be an office seeker or 
holder, the details of his personal affairs hav- 
ing absorbed his attention. He keeps twenty- 
five head of cattle, including fifteen cows, and 
sells milk to families in Norwich, keeping 
three horses and delivering the milk himself. 




ILLIAM E. PENDLETON, well 
known in New London, Conn., as a 
skilful florist, is a native of Mystic, 
in the same county. He was born September 
3. 1854, son of William Dennis and Mary 
(Thurston) Pendleton. His ancestors came 
from England, and were among the leading 
Colonial families. William Pendleton, his 
great-grandfather, was a tavern-keeper and 
farmer in good circumstances. William Pen- 
dleton, Jr., the youngest son of William, was 
born in Rhode Island about 1790. He mar- 
ried a Miss Lamphere, by whom he had eight 



I'.KKMi AI'IIIC \I, REVIEW 



l-V 



children, five sons and three daughters. He 
died in 1850, and was survived about twenty- 
five years by his widow, who lived to b< 
tw< nty and eighty years oi 1 je. 

William Dennis Pendleton was born in 
Mystic, Conn., and for several years carried 

icrcantile business in Old Mystic. Fol- 
lowing that he went to California, journeying 
by way of the Isthmus, and during a two 

>' stay successfully engaged in mining. 
He died in 1855, when but thirty-three years 
Mary Thurston Pendleton, his wife, 
was born in Westerly, R.I., daughter of John 
C. and Mary (Miller) Thurston. She was a 
l-daughter of John and Martha (Clark) 
Thurston. Her grandfather was one of four 
brothers who came from England. He was an 
innkeeper in Westerly for many years, and 
retired with a competency. Mr. and Mrs. 
William I). Pendleton had two children, a 
son and daughter: William E. ; and Ida, the 
wife of John Newbury at Bay Shore, I.. I. In 
1861 their mother married a second time, be- 
coming the wife of H. Pascal Beckwith, of 
Waterford, Conn. For the past fourteen 

- Mr. and Mrs. Beckwith have resided in 
Now London. They lost an infant son, and 
have one son living, Daniel P. Beckwith, a 
young man of tine mechanical and business 
ability, employed in New York City as superin- 
tendent of an incandescent arc light company. 
William E. Pendleton obtained his educa- 
in the common schools of Waterford. 
His early boyhood was spent on a farm; ami 
when but sixteen he shipped before the mast 
on a fishing-smack that sailed from Noank, 
Conn., and was gone six years. Later on he 
became a government employee on board the 
revenue cutter "Active" of New Bedfi 
Returning to a land life, he 1 111 farm- 

ing until 1892 as manager of the Red House 
stock farm, then established himself in busi- 



ness as a florist in New London, beginning 

with but two greenhouses, and gradually in- 

>ing the number . and employing 

from three to six men, making a special! 
cut (lowers ami ornamental plants for borders 
and other decorative purpi 

At twenty- . February 16, 

1S-6, Mr. Pendleton was married to Miss 
Amelia E. Braman 'known to her friends by 
the familiar name of "Millie'"), a daughti 
John Braman, of Waterford, Conn. Their 
only daughter. Agnes, died at two \. 
They have two sons living: John B., a young 
man of twenty, engaged in the greenhouse 
business; and Frank, aged fifteen. 

Mr. Pendleton is a member of the National 
Guard, Third Connecticut Infantry. From a 
private he has risen by regular promotion to 
the rank of Captain of Company 1). which he 
has held for two years, and is now Captain 
and Aide-de-camp on the Brigade Staff. He- 
is a member of the Improved Order of Lid 
Men, also of the American Order of United 
Workmen. 

(We have recently learned that, owing to 
the business depression, Mr. Pendleton, a few 
months ago, gave up the florist's business fof 
a time at least, and has since gone to Alaska.) 




ENRY W. BRANCHE, er oi 

the Boston and Norwich Clothing 
Company of Norwich, Conn., was 
born in Lisbon, Conn., August 9. [860. His 

father, Levi J. Branche, was born in Lisbon, 
August 19, 1 8 19; and his mother, Sarah L. 
Williams Branche. was a native of Canter- 
bury, Conn. Elisha Branche, father of Levi 
]., was a son of Stephen, who was born in 

first ancestor in ( 
necticut was Peter Branch, who came to Pres- 
ton from Scituate, Mass., or 1 



t2« 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Peter Branch, of Kent, England, sailed 
from his native land in the ship "Castle" 
between the years 1620 and 1640, but did not 
live to see the new world for which he had set 
out. His son John was bound out at ten 
years of age for the remainder of his minority. 
Branch Island, near Brant Rock, referred to 
above, was named for him; and his will shows 
him to have been a man of property. During 
the Indian War one of his sons was killed at 
Rehoboth, and is buried there. 

Stephen Branch, the great-grandfather of 
Henry W., of this sketch, was a non-commis- 
sioned officer in a company of militia that re- 
sponded to the Lexington alarm in April, 
1775. His brother, Captain Moses Branch, 
was in command of a company at Groton 
Heights. Elisha Branche, the grandfather of 
Henry \V., was the father of three sons — 
Elisha P.; Levi J.; and William, who mar- 
ried a Miss Atwood, and went to Utah to live 
— and three daughters. 

Levi J. Branche engaged in farming in his 
younger days, then became a paper manufact- 
urer, being one of the organizers of the Reed 
Paper Company. He was one of the incorpo- 
rators of the Jewett City Savings Bank. Two 
years, 1882-84, he was a member of the State 
legislature. He was active and influential in 
the town affairs of Sprague, to which place he 
removed at the close of the war. In i860 
Mr. Branche was married to Miss Sarah 
L. Williams, daughter of Merritt Williams, 
of Canterbury, Conn. Four children were 
the fruit of this union, namely: Henry W. ; 
Ida, wife of a Mr. Blanding, of Providence, 
R. I. ; Herbert R. , a yard-master in Provi- 
dence for the New England Railroad; and 
Leone L., a salesman in a clothing store in 
Providence. Their mother died in November, 
1S75, at thirty-seven years of age. Their 
father subsequently married a second wife, by 



whom he had two children. His third and 
last wife was a Miss Bromley, who survives 
him, and is living in Sterling, Conn. He 
died in March, 1886. 

Henry W. Branche, after attending the 
common schools and a boarding-school at 
Providence, began his business career at six- 
teen, as a clerk in a clothing store in Win- 
chendon, and afterward went to school for 
another year. He tried working in a woollen- 
mill and at other employments until 1883, 
when he entered the New York Clothing 
House in Norwich as a clerk, remaining there 
until the spring of 1887, when he started in 
business for himself at go Main Street, in 
company with a Mr. Reeves, firm of Reeves & 
Branche. After carrying on the business to- 
gether for seven years, they dissolved partner- 
ship; and Mr. Branche became manager of the 
Boston and Norwich Clothing Company. 

In December, 1886, Mr. Branche was 
joined in marriage with Miss Fannie Bottom- 
ley, of this city, a daughter of Joseph Bot- 
tomley. They have three children — Harry, 
Herbert, and Fannie. 

As was his father before him, Mr. Branche 
is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a mem- 
ber of the Knights of Pythias, the Improved 
Order of Red Men, and Sons of the American 
Revolution. Mrs. Branche is an Episco- 
palian. The family reside on Laurel Hill, in 
the house which Mr. Branche purchased in 
the fall of 1895. 



T^HARLES H. COTTRELL,* a well- 
I jp known lumberman of Mystic, Conn., 

Vfci£_^- successor to the business established 
by his late father, Joseph Cottrell, was born 
in the house which he now occupies, January 
27, 1843. 

The Cottrells are of English origin. Sir 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



429 



Charles Cottrell, born in 161 5, son of Sir 
Clement Cottrell, of Lincolnshire, lived at 
Westminster, and was prominent at the court 
ceremonies in the reign of Charles II. The 
emigrant ancestor was Nicholas Cottrell, who 
was living at Newport, R. I., as early as 1639, 
and later at Westerly. 

Joseph Cottrell, born in Mystic, July 7, 
1777, was the only son of Charles and Esther 
(Denison) Cottrell. He was a man of great 
enterprise and business tact, establishing 
more than seventy-five years ago the first and 
only lumber yard and planing-mill in Mystic. 
By means of industrious thrift and wise man- 
agement he accumulated a competency, leav- 
ing his seven children then living a goodly es- 
tate to be divided among them, making no 
will, but depending upon their honor and fra- 
ternal affection to settle affairs harmoniously, 
which they surely did. He was not a poli- 
tician, but was a radical Republican, and at 
one time was a Representative to the State 
legislature. 

On October 3, 1826, he married Fanny 
Stanton, daughter of Jabez and Fanny (Potter) 
Stanton, who on her mother's side was de- 
scended from the Potter family of Rhode 
Island. They became the parents of twelve 
children, all but one of whom were born in 
the house erected by the father soon after his 
marriage, probably seventy years ago. Two 
sons and five daughters grew to mature years, 
and the following are now living: Mary Ann, 
who is now abroad with her husband, Charles 
II. Denison, visiting the principal cities of 
the Old World, having recently been in 
Japan; Harriet Shaw, widow of George Har- 
ris, of Providence, R.I. ; Fanny, wife of 
Joseph Griswold, a cotton manufacturer in 
Greenfield, Mass.: and Charles Henry, the 
subject of this sketch. One son, Joseph 
Oscar, who spent most of his life in Mystic, 



died January 2, 1890, in Providence, having 
one daughter by his first wife, and four sons 
and one daughter of his second marriage. 
Neither of the parents is living, the father 
bavin-' died April 19, 1865, and the mother 
just three months later, July hi. 1865. Loth 
were members of the Congregational church, 
and their family pew is now occupied every 
Sunday by their son Charles and his wife 

Charles II. Cottrell was educated in board- 
ing-schools at Providence, R.I., and Middle- 
boro, Mass. When a young man he entered 
in business with his father, and he is now ex- 
tensively and profitably engaged as a lumber 
manufacturer and dealer. He is highly es- 
teemed as a man of sterling integrity. He is 
a Republican in politics, and, though not an 
office-seeker, has served as Selectman of the 
town. Fraternally, he is a Master Mason. 

Mr. Cottrell was married November if>, 
1865, to Miss Georgia A. Crary, who was born 
in Groton, this county, a daughter of George 
B. and Catherine (Latham) Crary and a sister 
of Captain Jesse Dayton Crary, who for many 
years ran a freight and passenger packet be- 
tween Mystic and New York City. Mrs. Cot- 
trell is said to be a lineal descendant of 
Charlemagne, tracing hei ancestry through 
Peter Crary, who was born in Scotland in 
1635. Peter Crary emigrated from Scotland 
to America when a youn . coming to 

Groton, Conn., where he married in Decem- 
ber, 1677, Christobel Gallup. On March 17, 
1679, he and his wife joined the church, of 
which James Noyes was pastor. Peter Crary 
died in 170S. His wife's father, Captain 
John Gallup, Jr., was a son of Captain John 
Gallup, Sr., of Boston, Mass.; and both 
father and son were noted Indian lighters, the 
son losing his life in the famous swamp fight. 
Mrs. Cottrell's grandfather Crary married 
Catherine Burrows, a descendant of Robert 



43° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Burrows, who was given the first grant to 
cross the Mystic River. His son, John Bur- 
rows, born in 1642, is buried under a slab in 
the Wightman burial-ground. George B. 
Crary and his wife are the parents of six chil- 
dren, of whom three are living, namely: Jesse 
Dayton, a merchant in New York City; 
Nellie Crosby Crary, at home with her par- 
ents; and Georgia A., now Mrs. Cottrell. 
Mrs. Cottrell's maternal great-grandmother, 
Catherine Haley, was descended from John 
Haley, who was born in Devonshire, England, 
and was buried on Fisher's Island. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cottrell have lost three chil- 
dren, two sons and a daughter having died in 
infancy. They have one child living; 
namely, Fanny Stanton, wife of John L. 
Dodge, Jr., of Groton. Mrs. Dodge has three 
children, two sons and a daughter, the latter 
being of the fifth generation to bear the name 
of Fanny Stanton. Mr. Cottrell has many 
valuable relies, one that attracts universal at- 
tention being an old-fashioned solid mahogany 
writing-desk, formerly owned by his great- 
grandmother. 




ISS RUTH ELIZABETH ALLEN, 
a well-known resident of the town 



of Sprague, Conn., living on the 
Allen farm, near the village of Hanover, is 
the only daughter of the late John and Ruth 
Waldo (Bingham) Allen. The family to 
which she belongs is an' old and honored one 
in New England, and has produced men and 
women of influence and of solid worth and 
Christian character. 

Among the different emigrants bearing this 
surname that came over in the first half of the 
seventeenth century was Samuel Allen, who 
settled at Braintree, Mass., near Boston. 
From him the line of descent to John, father 



of Miss Ruth E. Allen, is as follows: Sam- 
uel, second, born about 1632; Samuel, third, 
born in 1660; Joseph, born in 1701; Asahel, 
born in 1742 or 1743, who married Desire 
Eames, and was the father of Enoch and 
grandfather of John Allen. 

Enoch Allen, Miss Allen's grandfather, 
who was born in the eastern part of Windham, 
now Scotland, Conn., in 1768, was a farmer 
and stone-mason and a man universally es- 
teemed. He died in 1840. His wife, for- 
merly Betsey Witter, of Canterbury, long sur- 
viving him, lived to be eighty-five years of 
age. Their only daughter died in infancy; 
but their four sons — -Asa W., John, Martin, 
and David — grew to maturity and married, 
and all lived to be very advanced in years. 
Asa W., the eldest, in his youth was a mem- 
ber of a militia company, and was called out 
at the time of the attack on Stonington Point 
in the War of 1812. In 1819, shortly after 
his marriage, he removed to Ohio. In his 
later years he devoted himself with character- 
istic "unyielding perseverance" to study of 
the history of his ancestors, and compiled a 
brief but valuable genealogy of the Allen and 
Witter families, which was published in 
Salem, Ohio, in 1872. Martin Allen re- 
moved to Ohio in 1829; and David, the 
youngest brother, settled at Salem, Ohio, in 
1864. Miss Allen's uncles were all teachers, 
church members, and devoted Christian 
workers. 

Her father, John Allen, was born in 1797, 
and was educated in the district school. He 
was married March 9, 1835, to Ruth Waldo 
Bingham, daughter of Captain John and 
Talitha (Waldo) Bingham, both lifelong resi- 
dents of Connecticut. Mr. Allen, having in- 
herited some property, had previously bought 
a farm, and hod finished building the house 
which has now come down to his daughter, 



J 




5 '/ 



// 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



■U3 



site having been chosen b< I the 

abundance of pure spring water. By his own 
industry and business ability he added to his 

possessions, so that at his death, which oc- 
curred "ii February 22, 1875, he left an estate 

mated at thirty thousand dollars. His 

. Ruth, was a teacher before her marriage, 
and was a woman of cultivation and refinement. 
She was born in 1800, and died July 12, 
[882. Both Mr. and Mrs. Allen were Con- 
malists in religion. 
Miss Allen is the only child of her parents. 
She was educated in Dr. Webster's School at 
Norwich, and was brought up from childhood 
with the most loving and thoughtful care. 
She has always clung with attachment to her 
home, and prefers a quiet and domestic life 
here to any other. She is deeply interested 
in all the affairs of her native town, and is 
always ready to lend her influence for the 
furtherance of any movement looking to the 
general good or to assist in any worthy 

me of benevolence. She is a member of 
the Hanover Congregational Church, and be- 

- also to the Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union. 



/TVXrTAIX REUBEN LORD,* a farmer 

V J| anc ' ret ' re< ' ship-master of Salem, 

V»C_-^ Conn., was bom in Lyme, at Ilam- 

. April 20, [8l2, son 11I Joseph and 

l'hebe (Burnham) Lord. Thomas Lord, the 

estoi oi this branch of the family in 

idea, was born in 1585, and, with his 

wife Dorothy, came from England in 1 

settling in Newtowne, as Cambridge, M 

was then called, and to Hartford, 

Conn., in [636 or 1637. His son William, 

born about 1623, settled at Saybrook, and died 

in [678. William's son, Thomas, was born 

in 1645. He married Mary Lee, and died 



in 1730. Their son Joseph, born in 
settled at Lyme, married Abigail Cnnist.uk, 
and died in 1736. Their son Joseph also 
lived in Lyme. lie married Sarah Wade, 
son of Joseph and Sarah Lord, settled in 
Lyme, married Elizabeth Selden, and died 
in 1804. Joseph, their son, the Captain's 
father, born in 1781, died in [836. lie had 
five sons and six daughters, a brief record 
of some of them being as follows: the Rev. 
Joseph Lord, a Congregational minister in 
Michigan, is now ninety years of age, and at- 
tends divine service every Sunday of his life ; 
Judah resides in Hamburg, Lyme, at tin 
of seventy-nine. Elizabeth, widow of Jede- 
diah Brockway, is in Hamburg; another sister 
married Captain James A. Bill; 1 land 

lives in Colchester. The father held some of 
the minor town fi II is wife survived 

him twenty-five ye 

Captain Lord was brought up on his lather's 
farm, and attended the Bacon Academy and 
Bristol School. He remained at home until 
his marriage to Sarah Weaver, of New York 
State, which occurred when he was twenty- 
three years of age. lie was for ten years 
lin of his vessel. He has been a mer- 
chant in La Porte, Ohio; and at one time he 
kept a hotel there, and also engaged in the 
manufacture of potash and pearlash. He is 
a Democrat, and has been Justice of the 
Peace. He served as Assessor fifteen years 
and on the Hoard of Relief thirteen yi 
He was in the legislature in 1878. He has 
been a member of the Congregational church 
at Hamburg for half a century. He has lived 
at his present home in Salem since 1881, 
having then bought his farm of sixty-five a 

Captain Lord's first wife, who was a daugh- 
ter of Thomas Weaver, died November 18, 
1876, aged sixty-nine. She had ben the 
mother of seven children, of whom two, who 



434 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



were twins, a son and daughter, died young, 
in Ohio. The survivors are: Joseph, living 
in Tampa, Fla. ; Elizabeth, who married Mr. 
Moon, and accompanied him South, where he 
and one daughter died of yellow fever; Henry, 
who is an orange-grower near the city of 
Tampa, Fla. ; Reuben, Jr., a lawyer in New 
London; and Walter A., a farmer in Ham- 
burg. Captain Lord has five grandchildren. 
He was again married, in 1878, to Mrs. 
Matilda S. Wheeler, of Hartford, Conn., 
daughter of Hugh Chambers, and the widow 
of Hiram Wheeler. Her only daughter, Net- 
tie E., is the wife of Joseph Lord, and has 
a daughter, Edith May Lord, aged eleven. 

Mrs. Matilda S. Lord was born in Dover, 
England. Her father's family came from 
Dundee, Scotland. He was a surgeon in the 
British army; and his wife, Elizabeth Shaw 
Chambers, always accompanied him. Their 
eighteen children were born in different parts 
of the world, — one, for instance, in the West 
Indies, one in the East Indies, one on the 
Cape of Good Hope, one on the Island of St. 
Helena, one in Dover Castle, and one on the 
ocean. Mrs. Lord has two brothers in Aus- 
tralia, whither they emigrated from Califor- 
nia. Another brother, the Rev. Adam Cham- 
bers, a Baptist minister, is settled over one of 
the best churches in Philadelphia. He has 
an illustrated lecture on " Pilgrim's Progress," 
which he has delivered twenty-six hundred 
times in various countries. Another brother 
is in business in New York City, and has 
a summer home in Salem. Her sister, the 
wife of Ralph Hughes, who belongs to the 
famous Hughes family, is in Buffalo. Hugh 
Chambers died in England in 1840, at the age 
of fifty-four. His wife died at the home of 
her son in Philadelphia, about 1867, at sixty- 
three years of age. Mrs. Lord was educated 
in New York City and at the Quaker Boarding 



School in Springport. She has taught school, 
and was for twenty-five years the superin- 
tendent of mission schools in New York City, 
and in Hartford was the city missionary of 
Warburton Chapel, a position which she held 
for ten years, at a salary of one thousand 
dollars. 

Before her second marriage Mrs. Lord spent 
five months abroad, visiting London, Roches- 
ter, and Dover, England; Glasgow and Edin- 
burgh in Scotland; Belfast, Ireland; Boulogne, 
France; and Brussels, Belgium. She went 
in the interests and under the auspices of the 
New York City Female Bible Readers' So- 
ciety, whose president at that time was Mrs. 
Lorimer Graham. During her tour she at- 
tended the World's Congress of Deaconesses, 
of which order she is a member. Her mis- 
sion was to obtain up-to-date methods of mis- 
sionary work, and she gave lectures on this 
subject in Belfast. She was the guest of .Mr. 
Spurgeon, and saw the darkest and brightest 
phases of London life before returning to her 
work in Hartford. Her life has been full of 
activity and usefulness. 




HOMAS PENDLETON WILCOX,* of 
Ouiambaug, Stonington, Conn., a son 
of Thomas, Jr., and Lavinia (Fish) 
Wilcox, was born April 5, 1844. His grand- 
father, Thomas Wilcox, Sr., was a seafaring 
man, and was engaged in many whaling expe- 
ditions. He married Abbie Pendleton, who 
bore him seven children, four sons and three 
daughters, all of whom are now dead. 

His son Thomas, Jr., who was born in 
1806, was the master of a whaler for a number 
of years, making many expeditions. He 
bought twenty acres of land in Stonington, 
at the head of Ouiambaug Cove, where he 
built the house in which his son now lives. 




CHARLES P. HEWITT. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 






He was married in 1836, and died while on 
.1 voyage, in 1854, and was buried al 
1 1 is wife, Lavinia Fish, daughter of John 
Fish, "1 Noank, survived him but four years. 
They had two suns. The elder, George W., 
was by 01 on a sailor. In 1861 he en- 

listed in Company G of the Fifth Connecticut 
Infantry, and was appointed Sergeant. Hav- 
ing served his full term, he enlisted again, 
anil was killed at the battle of Atlanta in 
1 864. 

Thomas Pendleton Wilcox, the younger son, 
came to his present home with his parents 
when about two ami a half years old. He 
attended the district schools for a time in his 

d, but very early began to follow the 

Now he (Joes a good business, catching 
lobsters, also fishing with hand lines dur- 
ing the summer, and in winter taking oysters, 
large anil of excellent quality, from his fine 
oyster beds, where he plants from four hun- 
dred to five hundred bushels every spring. 
IK- has served on the School Committee, and 
has been a trustee of the free chapel near his 
home, lie is a member of the Baptist church 
and in politics a Democrat. 

December 17, [863, he married Angelina 
R. Champlain, a daughter of Benadam and 
Rebecca Champlain. Seven children have 
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox, and six 
of them are living, namely: George R., who 
is married, and has a daughter and a son ; 
William C, who is married, and has two 
daughters; Thomas 1'., Jr., living at home; 
Henry M., also living at home, and in busi- 
with his father; Frank G., a boy of fif- 
teen; and Lavinia, a child of seven. 

Although Mr. Wilcox is not strong physi- 
cally, always having been a sufferer from 
asthma, he is a man of great patience and 
perseverance, and has accomplished much in 
a quiet, unobtrusive way. 




'I 



HARLES PALMER HEWITT, 
of the most industrious and enterpris- 
ing farmers of Preston, was bom in 

his present abode, March 8, 1853, son of 
Stanton and Harriet (Roy) Hewitt. His 
grandfather, 1 Hewitt, owned a farm in 

this vicinity; and the house which he built is 
still standing. Stanton Hewitt was born in 
1817, and spent his life on the farm. lie 
married in 1.S50 Harriet Roy, of Lisbon, 
who was bom in 1S30. They had three chil- 
dren : Stanton, a farmer residing in this 
vicinity; Charles Palmer; and Hattie Eggles- 
ton, wife of Oliver Eggleston. The mother 
died in 1873, at the age of forty-three, her 
husband having passed away eleven years pre- 
viously. He was a Democrat politically, be- 
sides serving the town as Selectman many 
years. lie was also elected at diffinn! 
times to both houses of the legislature. 

Charles P. Hewitt was brought up on the 
farm, where he remained until twentj 
years of age. He then went to Hartford, 
where he was employed as an assistant book- 
keeper for some years. He also pursued a 
course of study at Greenwich Academy. Re- 
turning subsequently to the farm, lie was 
married January 8, 1870, to Addie 11. An- 
drews, oi Pn : in, daughter of Gustavus D. 
and Sarah (Millard) Andrews, the mother, 
previous to her marriage to Mr. Andrew.-, 
having been the widow of a Mr. Hakes. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hewitt lost their only son, Millard 
II., who died when eighteen months old. 
Mi. Hewitt, who is a Democrat politically, 
represented his district in 1882. He is the 
owner of one hundred and forty-nine acre 
land, which was purchased by his mother, and 
on* which he has paid the mortgage. His 
fine old house, which has been standing for 
a hundred ye 11 -. ha - been rei I her- 

wise improved by him; and in 1 8y6 he erected 



43» 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



a large horse barn. Besides general farming, 
Mr. Hewitt keeps from twelve to fifteen cows, 
the milk from which he sells personally in 
Norwich. Besides making his daily round, 
he carries on his farm almost without assist- 
ance. He enjoys the best of health, and is 
one of the most wide-awake farmers in the 
town. 

Mll> 

|p)TERMAN ATWOOD,* Postmaster of 
[— -rl Stonington, Conn., was born in 

li 9 V, _, Brooklyn, Windham County, this 

State, June 12, 1862, son of L. S. and Elvira 
(Cooley) Atwood. His father was born in 
Mansfield, Conn., July 22, 1812. He died 
on October 10, 1888, in Brooklyn, where for 
a number of years he kept a grocery. He was 
twice married, his first wife being Elvira 
Cooley, of Brooklyn. She died in 1862, 
leaving three children: Juliet, wife of Prank 
L. Martin, of Providence, R.I. ; Arvilla, who 
married Charles G. Williams, of Providence; 
and Herman, who was only six weeks old at 
the time of her death. The second partner of 
the father's joys and sorrows was Margaret 
Fuller, by whom he had one son — Oscar F. 
Atwood, of Brooklyn, Conn. 

Herman Atwood, the elder of the two sons 
of L. S. Atwood, was reared in his native 
town, and there acquired a common-school 
education. At the age of nineteen he learned 
the machinist's trade, which he followed 
twelve years in this place, being employed by 
the Atwood Machine Company, whose leading 
members are cousins of his father. In poli- 
tics he is a sound-money Democrat, like his 
father before him. He was appointed Post- 
master by President Grover Cleveland on Jan- 
uary 21, (895, and has since continued to dis- 
charge efficiently the duties of his position, 
lie has many warm friends. 

On December 24, 1891, Mr. Atwood was 



united in marriage with Clara Belle Pendle- 
ton, an accomplished pianist and music teacher 
of this place. Her parents are B. F. and 
Mary Jane (Oliver) Pendleton, of Stonington, 
Conn. They have seven children, including 
five sons, who are in New York City, and 
another daughter, who resides in Stonington. 
Mrs. Atwood has a large music class, with 
whom she is very successful and popular. Mr. 
and Mrs. Atwood are highly respected mem- 
bers of the First Baptist Church. 




ILLIAM A. HOLT,* a well-known 
grocer of New London, was born in 
this city February 23, 1829, son of 
Nathaniel and Esther (Morrison) Holt. He 
belongs to an old Connecticut family, the first 
representative of which, William Holt, an 
Englishman, was a member of the New Haven 
Colony in 1643, and was one of the first pro- 
prietors to whom a lot was apportioned. Will- 
iam Holt was a dish-turner by trade — that is, 
a maker of pewter plates and dishes. In his 
old age he removed with a son to Walling- 
ford, Conn. ; and he was the first white man 
buried in that place. His grave is to be seen 
to-day, marked by a rude, unpolished field 
stone, bearing the inscription, " William 
Holt, 1683." 

Nathaniel, his second son, settled in New 
London in 1673. He was in the swamp 
fight with King Philip, acting as Sergeant of 
a company, and, being seriously wounded 
December 19, 1675, received the small com- 
pensation of twenty-five dollars, all that the 
colony was able to pay. In 1689 he removed 
to Newport, R.I. In April, 1680, he was 
married to Rebecca, daughter of Thomas 
Beebe. The Beebes were remarkable men, 
strong, wealthy, and influential. Two sons of 
Nathaniel and Rebecca (Beebe) Holt inher- 



BIOGRAPHIC \l. REVIEW 



439 



ited from their maternal grandfather and their 
uncle a fine property in New London. 

James Holt, grandfather of William A., 
a calker bv trade, and was for a number 
in New London with 
Samuel Coit. I le died oi i holera in 1824, 
aged fort) seven years. His wile, formerly 
Mis. Jerusha Caffrey, a widow, whom lie mar- 
ried in 1707, also died oi cholera. Six chil- 
dren were born to this couple, three of whom 
namely, the son Nathaniel and two daugh- 

married. 
Nathaniel, William A. Holt's father, was 
horn in New London in 1804. He was en- 
I in the whaling industry tor a number of 
3, and had risen to the rank of mate when 
he left the sea. In (832, when he was 
twenty-eight years old, he was stricken down 
by cholera, the dread disease which carried off 
of his family, and died in a short time. 
He was married about 1826, to Esther Morri- 
son, of Waterford, Conn., daughter of Joseph 
Morrison, a Scotchman. Two children were 
born of this union — William A. and a son 
who died in infancy. The widow of Nathaniel 
Holt married Jefferson Avery. She died in 
. in her fifty-first year, leaving one child 
I husband — a daughter, Adelaide, 
now the wile of J. G. Cavcrly, ol New London. 
William A. Holt, having acquired his edu 
on in the common schools, began to work 
at the early age of twelve years in a grocery 
Store, and, before he attained his majority, 
was familiar with the ways and methods of 
In 1S50 he went to California, sailing 
around Cape Horn in the schooner "Cyno- 
sure," stalling in M 1 d arriving in Sep- 
for eight years he was engaged 
in trade in < '.. County, being employed 
as a salaried agent to sell miners' supplies. 
He returned by way of the Isthmus oi Pan 
in 1858, and established his present business 



as a dealer in ies with Jefferson Avery 

as partner, under the firm 1 Holt & 

Avery. They were located at first at 16 .Main 
Street, and about twenty-two years ago n 
to the present stand, 511 Main Street. Mr. 
Avery died in 1884, and Mi. Holt his 
been without a business ass 
been very successful, and has the respect and 
confidence ol the community. 

In 1858, soon altei his return from Cali 
nia, he was married to Sarah Skinner, of 
Massachusetts, daughter oi Deacon Joseph 
Skinner and his wife, who was formerly a 
Miss Searles, of Groton, Conn. Deai 
Skinner was in the truck business for a num- 
ber of years, retiring a few years prior to his 
death, which occurred when he was seventy- 
eight years old. His wife died at New 1 on 
don in i860, aged about fifty. Of their chil- 
dren, one besides Mrs. Holt is living Mrs. 
Laura A. Mead, oi New London. Six chil- 
dren have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Holt. A son died in infancy, and a daughter 
at the tender age of three years. The others 
arc : Edward, his lather's assistant in the 
-tore; Emma I.., residing with her parents; 
Nellie M., wife oi Frank McGammon, in 
Boston; and William A., of Harvard, 18. ,;. 

Mr. Holt, who has long been identified with 
the Democratic party, In er ol 

the city government lor twenty-two ye 
is at present a member of the Board oi A] 
men. He is a Master Mason. His 1 
at 42 Main Street, where he has livi 
twenty-two years, is one oi the historii 
of the city. It was built about one bundled 
and thirty-five yi id the walls are 

lined with brick. Erected by direction of the 
authorities oi tin- Church of England in old 
London, it was the home of the first Epis< 
bishop in America, Samuel Seabury, and is an 
object of great interest to Epi ns. 



44° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 




| R S . E M E L I N E FORDHAM 
DAWES* is the widow of Henry 
C. Dawes, who died October 29, 
18SS, in his fifty-ninth year. He was born 
on a sea voyage, when his parents, William 
and Sarah (Lansdal) Dawes, were coming 
from England to this country. His paternal 
grandfather came over to America later, with 
Roger Griswold's father. William Dawes, 
the father of Mrs. Dawes's husband, came to 
New London by vessel, and settled with the 
Griswold family. In the spring they went 
West to Ohio, where other members of the 
Dawes family had located themselves. He 
remained there several years, and followed the 
occupation of farming. Afterward he re- 
turned to Clinton, Conn., and subsequently 
removed to Lyme. After the death of his 
first wife he again went to Ohio, and married 
a widow lady, a Mrs. Powers, who owned 
farming land in both Iowa and Ohio. He 
then settled in New Hampton, la., where he 
carried on farming. Mrs. Dawes's husband 
was the third of four children — William, 
Mary, Henry C, and Louise Robins. The 
first of these, William Dawes, is now a resi- 
lient of Saybrook, Conn. Mary is the widow 
of Samuel Warner Frisbie, and lives in West 
Cleveland, Ohio. Louise Robins is not liv- 
ing. 

Henry C. Dawes shipped as a cook on a 
fishing-smack when a mere boy, and he was 
;i seafaring man the greater part of his life. 
He made voyages to England, South America, 
Cuba, and California, the latter trip being 
made on a merchantman. He was one of the 
"forty-niners" to California, and became 
captain and part owner of three vessels, one 
of which he sold in that State. The 
"Scotia" was a fast schooner for halibut 
fishing, and was built at Noank. The " Kate 
Church " was another craft in which he sailed 



for some years, and he also owned a stanch 
boat by the name of the " Susan Eldridge. " 

Mr. Dawes was married December 3, 1854, 
to Emeline, the daughter of Charles and 
Mahala (Beckwith) Tinker, the latter being 
a daughter of Joseph Beckwith and his wife, 
Esther Wait, who was of the same family as 
Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite. Mrs. 
Dawes's grandfather, Benjamin Tinker, mar- 
ried Lucy Beckwith, and had three sons and 
two daughters. Mrs. Dawes and her brother 
Horace, a resident of Mystic, Conn., are all 
that are left of a family of five children, she 
being next to the youngest. Her brother 
Charles was lost at sea when a young man. 
Mr. and Mrs. Dawes lived in New London for 
a time after their marriage, and in the spring 
of 1865 they came to the place where she still 
makes her home. It is an excellent farm of 
about thirty acres, with a fine dwelling-house 
and two large bams, all kept in the best of 
order, and an abundance of all kinds of fruit 
suited to the climate and soil. Mrs. Dawes 
has one daughter, Louise Marian, who, since 
completing her education at New London, has 
resided at home. 




iNRY BISHOP DOWNER,* a re- 
ared railroad conductor, residing in 
New London, Conn., was born at 
Bozrahville, this county, November IS, 1818, 
son of John and Lovisa (Bishop) Downer. 
His paternal grandfather, also named John, 
was a farmer. He married, and reared a fam- 
ily of sons and daughters. 

John Downer, the father of Henry B., was 
born on the home farm in 1796. Lie married 
Lovisa Bishop, who was born in Griswold, 
Conn. They had seven children: Mary; 
Lucinda; Harriet; Rev. John Camden 
Downer; Olive; Henry B. ; and Edmund, 



BIOGRA l'H I C A L REV I E\V 



i ; i 



who died at the early age of four years. The 
parents were in humble circumstances, and 
bravely struggled to bring up their family. 
The mother died at the age of sixty live; 
while the father, who died in 1.S71, lived to 
be seventy-five. 

Henry Bishop Downer began active life 
with but limited educational advantages, 
being obliged to work at the age of twelve 
years. He was at first employed on a farm 
fur four dollars a month. Six years later it 
was decided that farm labor was too hard for 
him, and be became a wool-sorter in the fac- 
tory. He subsequently went to Norwich, 
Conn., where he served as hotel clerk for Mr. 
Kinney. In 1839 he went to Colchester, and 
established a hotel, the principal one in the 
place, which he managed successfully for six 
ears. He then returned to Norwich, becom- 
ing clerk in the old Merchants' Hotel for Mr. 
trell. Later on he bought out Henry I.. 
Clark, and for six years thereafter he was 
proprietor of the American House. Mr. 
Downer then assumed the management of the 
Union House in New London; but at the 
expiration of three years he was burned ont, 
having only a light insurance. The next 
month he began serving as express messenger 
Mr. Turner. In April, 1856, he was ap- 
pointed conductor of a passenger train on the 
New London & Norwich Railroad. This po- 
sition he faithfully filled for thirty-seven 
years, retiring in 1893. 

Upon attaining his majority in 1839, Mr. 
Downer was married in Montville, this 
county, to Matilda Chamberlain, a native of 
Killingly. Mis. Downer died November 3, 
1893. For twelve years they had resided at 
8 Granite Street, in this city, where they set- 
tled in [881. In politics Mr. Downer is a 
Democrat. In religion he affiliates with the 
itionalists, having joined the First 



Congregational Church ol New London fifteen 
or more years ago. His estimable- wile was 
also a highly respected member ol the same 
church. 



SiY A M E S HAMILTON LA N G- 
\Y< IRT1 1 Y. ' an enterprising 

Stonington, Conn., son of the late- 
Henry Davis and Maria Pierce 'Clark) Lang- 
worthy, was born June 16, 1847, on his 
father's farm, the greater put ol which lie now 
owns and occupies. He traces his Hi:, 
back to Samuel Langworthy, bis great-grand- 
father, who came from England. 

The immigrant's son, Samuel, was bom in 
Hopkinton, R.I., September 11, 1771, and 
about 1820 settled in Stonington, where he 
owned a farm of three hundred acres, upon 
which he spent the rest of his life. He was 
a Baptist Deacon. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Kthelintla Davis, was bom in V 
terly, R.I., in 1767, and died here November 
20, 1835. They bad three sons — Samuel, 
George I-'., and Henry Davis. 

Their third son, Henry Davis Langworthy, 
was born in August, 1809. He married Sep 
tember 29, 1839, Maria Pierce Clark, and by 
this union was the father <>f four children, 
namely: Irving Newton, who died at the age 
of seventeen; Ethelinda, who died Noven 
11, 1867, at the age ol twenty-seven; Henry 
Courtland Langworthy, of Mystic; ami James 
Hamilton, of Stonington. 'I be father 
March 8, 1S84, leaving a farm ol one hundred 
and seventy acres. His wife, who was 
April iS, 1821, died April 18, [8< 

James II. Langworthy acquired an excellent 
education, attending public schools in Ston- 
ington and the Polytechnic Institute at 1 
X.Y., making a specialty of civil engineering. 
In politics he affiliates with the Democratic 
party ; and he b ited as an A 



442 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



three years and as member of the Board of 
Relief for two terms. Fraternally, he be- 
longs to Knights of Pythias Lodge and the 
American Order of United Workmen. 

Mr. Langworthy was first married on Jan- 
uary ii, 1 88 1 , to Hannah Bell Briggs, of 
Quonochontaug, R.I. She died June 23, 
1.S.S7, at the age of twenty-three, leaving one 
daughter, Maria Pierce, now a bright little 
girl of ten years. On May 7, 1896, he was 
married to his second wife, whose maiden 
name was Matilda Clark Stanton. Her par- 
ents were Samuel M. and Lucretia (Chesebro) 
Stanton, of Poquetanuck, Conn. Mrs. Lang- 
worthy has one brother, Lewis Sager Stan- 
ton. Her mother died in December, 1895. 

In 1S91 Mr. Langworthy sold to Charles 
P. Williams, of Brooklyn, N. Y., thirty acres 
of his ancestral farm, and to Samuel Doughty, 
of the same city, five acres, with the old house 
and barn which his father built. In 1895 he 
erected a new house and modern barn. He is 
still investing time and money in improve- 
ments, burying bowlders, and making solid 
driveways that will defy the ravages of time. 
The place commands a most extensive view of 
the surrounding country, including, also, the 
waters of the Atlantic on the south and of 
Loner Island Sound on the west. 



ir\ANIKL CALKINS, M.D., the ven- 

I 1 erable and honored physician of 

t — KLiS East Lyme, Conn., was born Au- 
gust 23, 1825, in the house in which he now 
resides, in the village of Flanders, the house 
now about two hundred years old, in which 
his father, Elisha Cadwallader Colden Cal- 
kins, was born, and in which his grandfather, 
Dr. Daniel, first, lived and died. He has the 
old-fashioned journal kept by his grandfather 
from 1776 to 1779, which contains many inter- 



esting entries, and is a valuable relic. 
Grandfather Calkins owned over three hundred 
acres of land here, and had a valuable farm. 
His death, when only forty-five years old, was 
caused by a kick by a horse. He was born in 
New London, and was twice married. By his 
first wife, Mary Chappell, he had one child, 
Esther, who married John Wood. By his sec- 
ond wife, Elizabeth Smith, his children were: 
Daniel; William S. ; Amos; Betsey; Etha- 
linda, wife of Thomas Griswold; Elisha 
C. C. ; and Sally. Elisha C. C. Calkins, the 
Doctor's father, was a farmer, and lived at 
the old homestead. He married March 6, 
1 8 16, Abbie Chapman, who was born Novem- 
ber 23, 1794, and was a daughter of the Hon. 
Isaac Chapman, of East Haddam, Conn. 
Seven children were the fruit of this union, 
namely: Elizabeth Abbie Calkins, bom Sep- 
tember 19, 1 8 1 7, is the wife of Benjamin F. 
Smith, M.D. ; Epaphras Chapman Calkins, 
for a number of years a sailor and master 
mariner, died in Boston at the early age of 
thirty-five years, leaving considerable prop- 
erty; Juliet G. Calkins, born February 23, 
1820, died at the age of six or eight years; 
Sarah Louisa, born February 22, 1828, is the 
wife of Nathaniel S. Lee, of Lyme, Conn., 
and mother of one daughter; Caroline Smith 
Calkins, born October 8, 1830, married Fran- 
cis J. Calkins, August 11, KS50; and Frances 
Anna is the wife of William Storrs Lee, of 
Hanover, whom she married April 4, i860. 

Daniel, the younger son, obtained his gen- 
eral education in the public schools of Lyme 
and at Bacon Academy at Colchester. When 
about fifteen years of age he was persuaded by 
a romantic friend to ship before the mast on 
board the whaling-vessel "Avis," Captain 
Gilbert Pendleton. The craft was beached on 
the coast of Two People's Bay, New Holland: 
and the young adventurer was left destitute, 









/ 



DANIEL CALKINS. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



445 



without friends and without money. He 
shipped again to Hobart Town, Tasmania, and 
at that place was taken in charge by the 
American Consul. After staying thereabout 
four years he shipped in the company of Two 
People's 1!)\ whalers. lie was in Honolulu 
tor a time, and was absent from home about 
five years in all. After his return he studied 
medicine at the College of Physicians anil 
Surgeons, New York City. Dr. Calkins has 
been engaged in the practice of medicine in 
this town since 1850, and in that time has 
probably visited nearly every family in the 
town; and by most of the inhabitants he is 
looked upon as a personal friend. Early in 
his practice he showed himself not only well 
trained for bis profession, but as having the 
inal qualities which would be sure to win 
for him the confidence of his patients and ulti- 
mate success in his chosen line of effort. 

In October, 1850, he married Elizabeth M. 
Calkins, daughter of Nehemiah and grand- 
daughter of Jonathan Calkins. Three sons 
were born of this union, two of whom died in 
infancy. The remaining son is Arthur B. 
Calkins, an attorney, and at present serving 
his second term as a member of the lower 
branch of the State legislature, where he is 
chairman of the Committee on Judiciar\ p . 
lie /. 'if the few Democrats elected in 

Hi- is a prominent Knight Templar 
and a member of the order of the Mystic 
Shrine. Dr. Calkins became a Mason in 
1853, and has been a Knight Templar for 
forty years, one of the first in this encamp- 
ment, lie has taken thirty-two degrees in 
.Masonry, and is Past Grand Commander of 
the Grand Commandery of Connecticut. In 
' he went to the Grand Encampment in 
irado, and he has attended several other 
impments in various parts of the United 
States. The Doctor was a Republican until 



the third time of Grant's candidacy. He has 

["own Clerk for fifteen years, and is still 

holding that position; has been Justice of the 

ighteen \ of Pro- 

n years : ami at present is No 
Public of Flanders, Conn. He has also 
been on the School Committ 



^§> 



EORGE (.. YOUNG,* who resides on 
\JS>T i farm in Lisbon, near Jewett City, 

was born in Killingly, Conn., Sep- 
tember 6, 1840, son of Stephen Graves and 
Mary (Hill) Young. The father was a ma- 
chinist, employed successively at Moosup and 
Killingly, and was in good financial circum- 
stances. He was born in Sterling, Decci 
20, 1810, and died in November, 1885. His 
wife, Mary, to whom he was married in [834, 
was born in Sterling on May 14, 1810, and 
died May 19, 1895, at tli ij eighty-five 

years. Their two children were: George G. 
and Henry Allen Young, the latter residing in 
Plainfield on the farm on which his parents died. 
George G. Young attended school when six- 
teen years of age. He then began to learn 
the machinist's trade with his father, who was 
then engaged in making repairs in a cotton- 
mill, lie worked at bis trade until [876, 
when he bought a farm at Black Hill, Plain- 
field, which he cultivated for two years, but 
subsequently exchanged for property on Plain- 
field Street. He then returned to the mill for 
five years. In 1S84 be came to Lisbon, and 
bought tin- old Tracy Inn: oi one hundred and 
twenty acres, [n politics a Democrat, Mr. 
Young has served the town as Selectman and 
in 1889 as its Representative to the legislat- 
ure. He is an official member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, of which his wife and 
daughter are members. For eight years he 
red much with asthma. 



446 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



On September 3, 1872, he was united in 
marriage with Eliza Jane Weaver, who was 
born November 18, 1848, daughter of Eben- 
ezer and Emmarilla (Lewis) Weaver. Eben- 
ezer Weaver was born in Griswold, August 9, 
1 8 10, and died in 1884. He lost his father 
early, and was bound out at seven years of 
age. He was "a self-made man," and when 
twenty-one years of age was making a good 
living and supporting a wife and child by run- 
ning a small cotton-mill in Canterbury on his 
own account. Although he had little school- 
ing, he was a fine mathematician. He was 
both a reader and thinker, and was besides 
a man of the strictest integrity. His wife, 
Emmarilla, who was born in Canterbury, Au- 
gust 21, 18 10, lived to be fifty-nine years of 
age. They reared seven of their eight chil- 
dren. Cordelia died in childhood. John 
died at the age of sixteen years. Maria and 
Sarah are both living. Lewis and George are 
deceased. 

Mr. and Mrs. Young have been the parents 
of four children, namely: Frederick Arthur, 
who died in infancy in 1873; Grace E., who 
was born in 1876, and died at the age of eight 
years; Alice M., who resides at home with 
her parents, is a graduate of Norwich Acad- 
emy, and a fine pianist; and Henry S., who 
was born in 1886, and died the same year. 




APTAIN GEORGE W. HOWARD,* 
formerly a master mariner, sailing 
from Niantic, where he is now en- 
] in carpentering, was born in this village, 
July 13, 183S, being the eldest son of Daniel 
and Cordelia (Dowset) Howard. His paternal 
grandfather, Daniel Howard, Sr. , was a 
farmer of Waterford. He married a Miss 
Smith, of that town, and had a family of four 
sons and three daughters, all of whom are now 



deceased excepting Edwin, who is a retired 
farmer and fisherman of Niantic. 

The Howard brothers — namely: Daniel, 
Jr.; Charles; Jonathan; and Edwin — were 
the founders of Niantic, starting here about 
fifty-two years ago, or in 1845, in the busi- 
ness of catching lobsters and mackerel. As 
fast as they accumulated money, they invested 
it in fishing-vessels, which were built here 
and at New London ; and eventually they 
owned most of the fleet of over twenty vessels 
that sailed from Niantic. Daniel Howard, 
Jr., who was born in Waterford, this county, 
in 1814, fished for halibut and cod on George's 
Banks, and was very successful both as a fish- 
erman and as a business man. He retired 
when about fifty years of age, and at his death 
in 1892 left a substantial property. His 
wife, Cordelia, a daughter of Joseph Dowset, 
was born at East Lyme, and is living, at the 
age of eighty-five years, with her son, George 
W. , at Niantic. She is the mother of five 
children, four sons and one daughter, namely: 
George W., of Niantic; Emma, who married 
William E. Clarke, and died in middle life, 
leaving no children; John C, who lives in 
Niantic; Daniel, who died in early childhood; 
and James, who is now at Millstone Point, 
managing a store. 

At eleven years of age George Howard 
went on the water occasionally during the 
summer. When fourteen years old he began 
to go regularly, and at twenty-one he was 
captain. Although always successful as a 
mariner, he left going to the Banks for fishing 
in 1878, and since that time has been a car- 
penter in Niantic. He still retains his fond- 
ness for the water, and owns a sloop, in which 
he carries out fishing parties during the sum- 
mer. There are many who remember with 
lasting pleasure a clay's sail in the Sound 
and a good catch of fish secured under the 



BIOGRAPHICAL RFATF.YY 



I V) 



skilful pilotage of Captain Howard. In poli- 
tics he is a Republican. He is also a mem- 
ber of the fraternal order known as American 
Mechanics. 

On November 19, 1867, Captain Howard 
was united in marriage with Mary 1). Bei 
of Hast Lyme, daughter of William and Maria 
(Harding) Beebe, both of whom are now de- 
ceased. Mis. Howard is one of a family of 
nine children, two boys and seven girls, born 
to her parents. She has five sisters and one 
brother living. Captain and Mrs. Howard 
settled in their pleasant home soon after their 
marriage. They have two sons: William 1)., 
a stone-cutter ; and George Avery, who keeps 
the Niantic Hotel and livery stable. Both 
are young men of merit, and well known here. 
Captain Howard has one little grand-daughter, 
the child of Mr. William D. Howard. 




iRS. MARIA E. WARREN,* a 
resident of the town of Lyme, is a 
daughter of Ezra M. and Eunice 
(Clark) Peck. Her father, who was a farmer 
of Old Lyme, had five sons and one daughter. 
The only members of this family now living- 
are: Chatles Clark, now in his eighty-seventh 
year, a retired merchant, formerly of New Or- 
leans, but now residing in New York City; 
Eleazer, eighty-one years old, who lives on 
the old farm, near Nile Creek in Old Lyme; 
and Maria E. (Mrs. Warren). 

Maria E. Peck in her girlhood received all 
the advantages to be derived from a careful, 
old-fashioned Now England training, which 
fitted her for the practical every-day duties of 
life. On November 2, 1841, she was married 
to Dr. William W. J. Warren, a son of 
Joshua R. and Harriet (Way) Warren and a 
descendant of Captain Moses Warren, the line 
of descent being: Captain Moses, Moses (sec- 



ond), Joshua R., William W. H. The Doc- 
tor's father was a farmer and merchant of 
Flanders; and that he was well thought of by 
his fellow-townsmen may be inferred from the 
fact that he was elected by them to the office 
of Town Clerk, and also as Representative to 
the legislature. Soon after his marriage Dr. 
Warren purchased the sixty-acre farm where 
his widow now resides, and built the present 
comfortable and substantial house. He be- 
longed to the old school of medicine, and en- 
joyed a good practice: but his career of useful- 
ness was prematurely cut short, his death 
occurring in 1858, at the age of thirty-nine 
years. He and his wife had live children: 
namely, Walter S., William Dudley, Maria 
Elizabeth, Joshua Raymond, and Jeanie Ellen. 

Walter S. and William D. are in business 
together, being members of the firm of Stew- 
art, Warren & Co., manufacturing stationers. 
Maria Elizabeth, who is a twin sister of Will- 
iam D., is a successful school teacher, and is 
unmarried. Joshua Raymi nd is a hotel stew- 
ard and caterer. He was employed at Long 
Branch for ten years, and has also followed 
his calling in New London and other places. 
He married Carrie Royce, and makes his home 
in Lyme when not called elsewhere by busi- 
ness engagements. Jeanie Ellen is the wile 
of Dr. Raymond Morgan, of Providence, K.I. 

Mrs. Warren is a member of the Congn 
tional chinch. With her daughter Maria she 
lives quiet and retired in her pleasant home 
in the hamlet oi Pleasant Valley, where she is 
much respected. 



Y^/lU.IAM r. 

V* V leading mea 



BROUGHTON, the 

meat merchant of Stoning- 
ton, was born in Providence, R.I., 
April 19, [857, son of James Broughton. 
The father, who was born in Manche 






45° 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



England, December 10, 1833, came to this 
country in 1856, and sent for his wife six 
months later. She arrived in Providence, 
R.I., on April 16, 1857, three days before 
giving birth to William F. Of her five chil- 
dren four were born in this country, and three 
are living. The first, James, died in infancy 
in England. The others are: William F., 
the subject of this biography; Walter M., 
who is now deceased; Charles W., a machinist 
in Worcester, Mass. ; and George E., a butcher 
in Brooklyn, N.Y. James Broughton, the 
father, is a master mechanic in Hope Valley, 
R.I., and has the enviable record of having 
been with one firm, the Nichols & Langworthy 
Machine Company, for thirty-two years, en- 
tering their employ in August, 1866. 

William F. Broughton was educated in Hope 
Valley and in a Bryant & Stratton business 
college of Providence. Afterward he entered 
the meat business, in which he has since pros- 
perously continued. His residence and place 
of business are 61 to 67 Water Street, a valu- 
able piece of property, with a frontage of some 
eighty feet, embracing his market and a drug 
store, which he rents. The market is well 
arranged, and has a perfect cold-storage house 
oi large capacity and perfect ventilation. By 
the compressed ammonia method of reducing 
temperature Mr. Broughton is able to keep 
beel sweet for sixteen months. In 1S84 he 
st.nted in the fish business with a partner, 
under the name of Broughton & Lawlor. 
Three months later he bought his partner's in- 
t, and continued for two years with his 
fish market in the Old Sail Loft. Then he 
removed to his present location in 1886, pur- 
chasing it July 3, 1888, and going in debt for 
the larger part of it. It is needless to say 
that this debt has been long since cancelled. 

Mr. Broughton is a Mason, a member of 
Palestine Commandery, No. 6, K. T., and 



the Master of the Asylum Lodge, No. 57, 
at Stonington. In politics he is a Demo- 
crat. He has held the position of Constable 
for three years, is a Burgess of the borough, 
and also Deputy Sheriff. At the age oi 
t went)' he was married to Frances T. James, 
daughter of Peleg W. and Sally (Lewis) 
James, both of whom are now deceased. 
Mrs. Broughton has three brothers and one 
sister. Three children have blessed her 
union, namely: Maud I., now a young lady 
of seventeen years and an accomplished per- 
former on the piano; Mabel Gertrude, fif- 
teen years of age, who is also musical; and 
William F., Jr., now thirteen years of age, a 
violinist of more than ordinary ability. Mr. 
and Mrs. Broughton do not regret their early 
start in life, and they are to be congratulated 
for their bright and most interesting trio of 
children. 




RS. JULIA ANN HEMPSTEAD,' 
widow of Orlando Hallem Hemp- 
stead, who died at their farm- 
house in North Waterford, New London 
County, Conn., April 19, 1874, was Dorn in 
June, 1809, over eighty-eight years ago, a 
daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Rogers) 
Rogers, who were second cousins. 

The founder of the Rogers family came here 
in the seventeenth century. Of the original 
large estate, which was settled over two hun- 
dred years ago, only the twenty-acre farm be- 
longing to Mrs. Hempstead remains. Her 
paternal grandfather, who was a Tory, was a 
wealthy man for those days; and it is probable 
that he served in office. Julia Ann Rogers 
and Orlando Hallem Hempstead were married 
on New Year's Day, 1832. He was a son of 
George and grandson of Robert Hempstead. 
The family is of English origin, and it has 
been identified with the history of Connecti- 



BIOGR MMIh'AI. REVIEW 



45' 



cut since the early Colonial days. Robert, 
who was a farmer, also followed the trade 
shoemaker to some extent. Orlando 11. and 
his brother Alfred came to New London when 
young men, and established a blacksmith shop 
on the Neck, where they carried on a success- 
ful business in general blacksmithing and the 
ironing of vessels. Of the children born to 
Julia Ann and Orlando Hempstead, two sons 
died in infancy, and seven sons and a daughter 
lived to mature years. Four of the number 
still survive: namely, Elizabeth, George, An- 
drew Jackson, and Kzra J. Elizabeth is the 
wile of Stephen C. Comstock. George 
Hempstead resides at 124 Main Street, New 
London. Andrew Jackson Hempstead, who 
is unmarried, lives on the old home farm. A 
raphical sketch of Ezra J. Hempstead, 
the seventh son, may be found elsewhere in 
this volume. Francis Alexander Hempstead 
died at twenty-six years of age. 

During the latter years of his life Mr. Or- 
lando 11. Hempstead supported the Republi- 
can party, but was formerly a Democrat. He 
served in many of the town offices. The 
house in which Mrs. Hempstead resides was 
built by him over half a century ago. She is 
the oldest living member of the Second Con- 
itional Church, which she joined in [836, 
sixty years ago. Many members of the 
Rogers family were Quakers, and this part of 
tin' town has been locally known as Quaker 
Hill. 



•EREMIAH DAVIS,* a boat-builder of 
wide reputation residing in Xoank, 
New London County, was born on 
I ong fsland, June 5, 1831, son of Gilbert 
and Nancy (Petitt) Davis. 

Jeremiah Davis, father of Gilbert, was a 
shoemaker by trade, and followed it all his 
life, the last years of which were spent 



on Long Island. He had four sons and a 
daughter. One son is living, Salem Davis, a 
house and ship painter, residing in Greenport, 
L.I. Gilbert Davis was born in New York 
City about the year [818, and died in • 
at his home on Long Island, to which he 
rime in his early years. He was a ship-car- 
penter and mariner. Nancy l'etitt Davis, his 
wife, also died in 1893, a short time bi 
his death. They were the parents of twelve 
children, and three sons and four daugh 
grew to manhood and womanhood. Those 
now living are: Sarah, wife of Joshua Perry, 
residing on Long Island; Jeremiah: Nancy 
Melvina Davis, in Brooklyn, N.Y. ; -Mary, 
wife of Austin Hempstead, oi Brooklyn; and 
Maria, wife of Mr. Ketchell, of Rockaway, 
N.J. 

Jeremiah Davis received a fair schooling in 
his native place on Long Island. When nine- 
teen years old he began learning the shoe- 
maker's trade ; and later on he served an ap- 
prenticeship to his father at ship-carpentry, 
following that occupation up to 1861, when he 
took up his present employment of a boat- 
builder, in which he has met with marked suc- 
cess. He came to Xoank in 1859. For a 
few years he worked in the Palmer ship-yard, 
and then engaged in business for himself. 
He has built several hundred boats of me- 
dium size, principally row-boats and yachts, 
some of them prize winners. The "Nellie," 
built for Colonel Tyler, of New London, was 
one of the fastest sail-boats in this section. 
lie carries on his business the year round, and 
in busy times employs three or four men. In 
addition to this he does a commission busi- 

in buying and selling boats, having 
or six on hand at a time. Some oi those he 
builds are shipped to Pensacola, Fla.. some 
also to New Orleans, and other distanl 

In June, 1S59, Mr. Davis was married to 



4S 2 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Julia A. Wilbur, daughter of Calvin Wilbur, 
of Noank. They lost two children in infancy, 
and have one daughter living, Hattie, wife of 
Arthur Cox, of this place. 

Mr. Davis is a Republican in politics, but 
has always declined official honors. He and 
his wife and daughter are members of the 
Noank Baptist Church, which has had a re- 
markable history, being noted for its piety 
and revivals. Mr. Davis is a member of the 
Prudential Committee. 



M 



ANIEL I. LAY,* Judge of Probate, 
a prominent citizen of Old Lyme, 
New London County, Conn., the 
son of Oliver I. and Mary (Whittlesey) Lay, 
was born in 1840, in the house where he now 
lives. I The Lay family came originally from 
England. Eight generations have lived in 
Lyme. John Lay, the first ancestor of whom 
there is record, settled at Old Lyme as early 
as 1648, and died here in January, 1674-5. 
He was twice married, and by each wife had a 
son named John. John Lay, Jr., born in 1654, 
married, and lived in Old Lyme until his 
death. His son John was born in 1696, and 
died in 1788. He also had a son John, who 
was born in 171 2, and who became a very 
prominent man in the town, being the owner 
of several thousand acres of land, and taking a 
leading part in public affairs. He served as 
Town Clerk for forty-five years, and was also 
a member of the General Court and Justice of 
the Peace. By his wife, Hannah, whose 
maiden name was Lee, he had fifteen children, 
en sons and eight daughters. His son 
John, born in 1737, served in the Revolution- 
ary War, and, being taken by the British, was 
for some time confined on the prison ship 
"Jersey." 
David Lay, son of the last-named John and 



grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was 
born on Meeting-house Hill, Old Lyme, 
April 28, 1769. His wife, Lucy Ingraham, 
was also a native of Old Lyme. They had 
four children, namely: Oliver I., father of 
Judge Lay; Laura, who married and died 
without issue; Lucy, living in Old Lyme, 
widow of the artist, William J. Banning; and 
George, a banker in New York City. The 
father died in 1843. The mother lived to the 
age of eighty-nine. 

Oliver I. Lay was born in the neighborhood 
of Lyme in 1799. He became a wool manu- 
facturer, and erected the solid stone factory 
at the dam of Spring Brook, which was built 
by Edward De Wolf in 1701. A capable 
business man, he also took part in public life, 
serving as Justice of the Peace, Judge of Pro- 
bate, and as a member of the legislature. He 
died in 1S76. His wife, in maidenhood Mary 
Whittlesey, was of English descent. She 
died in 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver I. Lay 
had seven children, namely: one son, Daniel 
I., subject of this sketch; and six daughters. 
The five daughters now living are: Sarah, 
wife of Samuel H. Selden, a civil engineer of 
Escanaba, Mich.; Adeline, widow of Walter 
Chadwick, a ship-master who was lost at sea; 
Marietta, who resides at the old home with 
her brother and two sisters; Evelyn H., wife 
of Dr. Cushman A. Sears, of Portland, Conn. ; 
and Aurelia, who is at the parental home. 

Daniel I. Lay completed his education at 
Williston Seminary. He went West with a 
surveying party at the age of twenty-three, 
and spent about twenty years in Michigan, 
being employed for some time in the United 
States land office at Marquette and for three 
years in prospecting for iron ore. Returning 
to Lyme in 1889, he was engaged three years 
in the milling business. He has also been 
largely interested in fire insurance. He has 



IUOGR AI'HICAL REVIEW 



served ;is Selectman of the town, and in 1896 
he was elected Judge of Probate. lie is a 
Master Mason and in politics a stanch Repub- 
lican. Judge Lay makes his home with his 
sisters in the house which their lather built in 
[830. Few residents of Old Lyme are 1> 
n or more respected. 



T^VIARLKS H. COWAN.' superintend- 

( J| cut of the Atwood Silk Machinery 

V N ~__^ Works in Stonington, Conn., was 

in December, 1850, in Bangor, Me. 

His paternal grandfather was Thomas Cowan, 

oi Hampden, Me. Me was a farmer, and was 

blessed with a family of three sons and one 

liter, two of whom, William and John, 

are now residing in Hampden. The other 

son, Thomas, the father of Mr. Charles H. 

Cowan, was engaged in the manufacture of 

wagons and carriages. By his first wife, 

Charlotte Folsom, of Dixmont, Me., he had 

three daughters and this one son, Charles H., 

the youngest-born. 

The mother dying when he was an infant 
one day old, he was tenderly reared by his 
grandmother Folsom until her death, and after 
that by his uncle, with whom he went to 
live when a lad of twelve years. He received 
the ordinary education afforded by the district 
school of the county, and at the age of eigh- 
teen went into tin.- Muzzy lion Works in Ban- 
gor, Me., to learn the trade of machinist. 
This apprenticeship occupied three \ 
He then remained there another year, and 
still later was with the same company at 
Lewiston, Me., for three years. He entered 
the employ of the Atwood firm in Williman- 
tic, Conn., in 1874. beginning at the bench 
as .1 common workman. His taste and genius 
for invention made him extremely useful, and 
advanced him rapidly to the foremost place, 



that of superintendent. For the past ten or 
fifteen years his entire time and energy have 
been given to the care of this large establish- 
ment. 

In 1877, on September C>, Mr. Cowan was 
married to Lucy Bun ty, R.I., 

laughter of the late William and Aurilla 
Burdick. Mrs. Cowan has lour brothers and 
two sisters. She has had three children, one 
of whom died when eighteen months old. Tin- 
others are: Grace, a young lady now finishing 
her education in the high school, and also 
studying music; and Charles II., Jr., a youth 
of fifteen years, also in school. Mr. Cowan 
belongs to no fraternal order and no church, 
and has subscribed to no creed. 



^NATHAN SANDS FISH,' a well- 




known and highly esteemed citizen of 
i 9 V^ i „ Groton, residing on his farm near 
Poquonnock Bridge, was born in this town, 
April 11, 1828, son of Simeon and Eliza 
(Randall) Fish. 

Sands Fish, father of Simeon and son of 
Nathan, was born at the old Fish homestead, a 
mile above Mystic. A portion of the farm 
owned by Nathan Fish is still held by some of 
his lineal descendants. The pioneer ancestor 
of the Fish family of Groton was passing 
through this section prospecting, and at 
Mystic village called on a settler named Bur- 
rows, and the owner of a large tract of land. 
The call resulted in Mr. Fish receiving the 
offer of a portion of it, provide vould 

settle upon it. He did so, and the farm men- 
tioned above is part of that grant. Nathan 
Fish, who spent his life thereon, attained the 
venerable age of ninety-six years. Sands 
Fish married Bridget Gallup, daughter of 
on Benadam Gallup and grand-daughter 
of Colonel .Benadam Gallup, who was 



454 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



an Avery. Her mother's name was Palmer. 
Sands and Bridget Fish had nine children, as 
follows: Hannah, who was born about 1790, 
and died in young womanhood; Lavina, wife 
of Isaac Denison; Asa Fish, who held the po- 
sition of Probate Judge some thirty years, or 
until disqualified by age; Simeon, father of 
Nathan S. ; Sands, Jr., who died in young 
manhood, unmarried; Charles, whose son 
William was a Colonel in the Civil War; 
Nathan G., a ship-builder; Alden, an octo- 
genarian living on the old farm; and Bridget, 
wife of William Clift. Sands Fish died in 
the thirties, at about seventy-five years of age, 
and his wife several years later. They rest 
in the Fish Cemetery on Pequot Hill, which 
was dedicated to the family by Roswell Fish. 
Sands Fish was a Deacon of the first Baptist 
church in Connecticut. The house of worship, 
located about one mile east of Centre Groton, 
is still standing, but is not occupied by the 
society. 

Simeon Fish was a merchant in Mystic 
some forty years. He was a man of good 
business ability and sterling integrity. In 
earlier days he was a Whig and later a Re- 
publican, one of those who voted for Abraham 
Lincoln. His wife, Eliza Randall before 
marriage, was born about 1S03 at North Ston- 
ington, or Mill Town, but spent her girlhood 
in Mystic. Simeon and Kliza Fish were the 
parents of three children: William Randall 
Fish, who died in 1889, leaving a widow and 
three children, a son and two daughters; Na- 
than Sands, of whom more is given below; 
and Jedediah Randall, a retired merchant liv- 
ing in New London, Conn. 

Nathan Sands Fish supplemented a good 
district schooling by two terms of study at 
a school in Suffield, Conn. When hardly 
seventeen years old he entered his father's 
store as clerk. He was subsequently received 



into partnership, and finally succeeded his 
father in the business. For two years he 
owned and operated a glass furnace in New 
London, and in 1872 ran a hotel in Madison, 
Ga. It is now twenty-eight years since he 
settled on his farm of over one hundred acres 
on the west side of Poquonnock Plains. 

Mr. Fish was married on April 22, 1850, to 
Jennett Morgan, daughter of Elisha and Caro- 
line Morgan, of Salem. They have two chil- 
dren living: E. Bertha, living at Poquonnock, 
wife of Charles L. Burrows and mother of one 
son; and Donald M. Fish, unmarried, who 
lives on the farm with his father. One 
daughter died in infancy; and Frank, who 
was born in 1852, died in 1S89, leaving a 
widow and four children. 

In political views and affiliation Mr. Fish 
is a stanch Republican. He has served as 
Grand Juror, Selectman, Assessor, Town 
Clerk, and as Justice of the Peace about eight 
years. While living in New London, he was 
a member of the Common Council. He has 
been a member of the State Board of Equaliza- 
tion, the Board of Relief, and the Board of 
Health. Since 1880 he has been one of the 
Executive Committee in charge of the Groton 
monument, and he had charge of the letting 
of the contracts for the repairs of 1881 and 
1893. 



rmc 



EORGE WASHINGTON HEMP- 
\J5 I STEAD,* of New London, a mason 
by trade and a pensioned veteran of 
the Civil War, was born May 12, 1837. His 
father, Orlando Hempstead, died in Water- 
ford, aged sixty-five: and his mother, Julia A. 
Rogers Hempstead, who is now eighty-eight 
years old, is well preserved both in mind and 
body. She has been bereft of four sons, and 
has three sons living and a daughter, Alma 




BENJAMIN H. LEE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 






Elizabeth, who is the wife of Stephen C. 
Comstock, a farmer near by. 

At the age of twenty-one George W. 
Hempstead began his business career as a 
butcher, and worked at that trade until Octo- 
ber, 1861, when he enlisted in the Twelfth 
Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, Company B, 
and served for two years, being honorably dis- 
charged in [863 at New Orleans, after six 
months' illness. Upon his recovery he re- 
turned to New Orleans with his brother Or- 
lando, with whom he was in the saw-mill 
business for a year. Returning to New Lon- 
don in 1865, he took up masonry, which he 
in to learn when he was twenty years old, 
and followed his trade until he gave up regu- 
lar work. He still does now and then a job 
for his old customers, but undertakes no new 
business. lie is a pensioner on account of 
his army service. 

On New Year's Day, 1866, Mr. Hempstead 
married Julia E. Reed, of New London. His 
lent wife, to whom he was married in 
May. [889, was Mrs. Mary E. Tefft, daughter 
of I'eter and Mary (Lasrue) Libbie. Her 
father died when she was a small child. She 
was married at nineteen to Mr. Tefft, by 
whom she has three children: Dwight 1 1. 
Tefft, a railroad man. who is married and lives 
in New London: Delia, wife oi Leonard Gib- 
son, Jr., of this city, who has throe children; 
and Minnie Tefft, living with her mother. 
Mr. Tefft died two years before her marriage 
to Mr. Hempstead. The house at [22 Main 
Street, which is the home of Mr. and Mrs. 
Hempstead, he built in 1890. His tenement 
house, (24 Main Street, is the old R 
dwelling, erected in 1795 by an own cousin of 
Mr. Hempstead's mother, and stands on land 
thai has been handed down from generation to 
generation. Though through early influences 
Mr. Hempstead was for a time a Jacksonian 



Democrat, he has for many years been a 

stanch Republican. Fraternally, he is a 

Master Mason, and in religious beliei a 
Methodist. 




ON. BENJAMIN HEMPSTEAD 
LEE," .1 well-known citizen oi New 

London, was born in his present 
residence on Ocean Avenue, I >■ - ember 7, 
1852, son of Daniel and Harriet (Hempsti 
Lee. His paternal grandfather, I'eter Lee, 
was a native of New London, bom December 
L3, 1773- A carpenter by trade, he met his 
death September 16, 1S41, as the result of a 
fall which he sustained some three months 
before the birth of his second child. 

Daniel Lee was born in Waterford, May 9, 
1808. He was a member for more than forty 
years of the old and leading grocer}- firm of 
Treadway & Lee. Beginning the active work 
of life without either cash capital or influen- 
tial friends, by foresight and industry he ac- 
cumulated a considerable property. A Re- 
publican in politics, he served the town many 
years as Selectman, and at various times held 
other offices in the gift of his fellow-towns- 
men. He was a Master Mason, and in his re- 
ligions affiliations a member of the Baptist 
church. His death occurred October 25, 
1885. February 21, 1831, he married Al- 
mira Beckwith, who was born June 6, 181 1, 
and died February 25. 1851. Of their six 
children five lived to maturity, and those now 
living are: .Augusta, wife of Samuel I'. 
Swoncie, of Meriden, Conn.: Daniel Morti- 
mer Lee, who was one of the first volunl 
in the late Civil War, rose to a Lieutenancy 
in the regular army, and now resides in Hos- 
ton, retired from active service: and Sarah, 
who married Edward T. Brown, secretary and 
surer of the Cotton Gin Company. The 
father married for his second wife, February 



45§ 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



29, 1852, Miss Harriet Hempstead, of New 
London, daughter of Henry and Nancy 
(Baber) Hempstead. The first American pro- 
genitor of the Hempstead family was Sir 
Robert, who came from England to this coun- 
try with Governor Winthrop in 1645. He mar- 
ried Joanna Willie, settled in Pequot, Conn., 
and died in 1655. His son Joshua, born June 
16, 1649, had a son Joshua, who was born in 
1678, and died in December, 1758. Nathan- 
iel, son of the second Joshua, was born in 
1700, had a son Joshua, who was born prob- 
ably about 1724, and died in 1806. This 
third Joshua was the father of thirteen chil- 
dren, eight sons and five daughters. Ben- 
jamin Hempstead, born in 1753, and the next 
in the line of descent, married Lydia Burch, 
and died of yellow fever in 1798, at the age of 
forty-five years. Henry, son of Benjamin 
and father of Harriet, the second wife of 
Daniel Lee, was born April 26, 1788, and 
died February 5, 1883. His wife, Nancy, 
died January 13, 1873, at the age of eighty- 
three, after more than sixty years of wedded 
life. Their children, nine of whom attained 
maturity, were: Henry P., born July 3, 1S09; 
Nancy, August 3, 181 1; Benjamin, August 
29, 1 8 1 3 ; John P., October 21, 1 8 1 5 ; Denni- 
son, October 3, 1S17; Harriet, January ig, 
1820; Elias, December 1, 1823; Caius, 
March 20, 1827; Wolcott, June 10, 1832; 
George W., January 5, 1S35. Mrs. Lee is 
now the only surviving member of the family. 
Daniel Lee died October 24, 1885, at the age 
of seventy-seven years. By his wife, Harriet, 
he had one son, Benjamin Hempstead, the 
subject of this sketch. 

Benjamin II. Lee attended the public 
schools of New London, and at the age of six- 
teen years was graduated at the Bartlett High 
School with the class of 1869. He began his 
business experience as a clerk in the stoic of 



Harris & Rowe. Two years later he went to 
Milwaukee, Wis., where he was employed in 
the hardware house of Honey & Co. for two 
years. During his first summer in that city 
he was stroke oarsman of the Tyson Club 
crew in a match with the Mitchell Club. 
Returning to New London in 1873, he entered 
the office of the Brown Cotton Gin Company 
as book-keeper, and remained there for three 
years. Since then he has been engaged in 
mercantile life, with the exception of five 
years spent in the railway mail service be- 
tween New York and Boston. 

June 16, 1874, Mr. Lee was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Emma Mower, daughter of 
General Joseph A. and Betsey (Bailey) 
Mower. Her father, who was a native of 
Vermont and began active life as a ship-car- 
penter, subsequently gained distinction as an 
officer, both in the Mexican and the Civil 
War. General Sherman in his Memoirs 
mentions him in terms of highest praise. He 
died in January, 1870, at the age of forty-four 
years. He was the father of four daughters 
and one son. His widow resides in Washing- 
ton, D.C. Four of their five children are liv- 
ing, namely: Josephine; Emma; Edward, 
who holds a government position in the Post- 
office Department at Washington ; and Kate. 
Maud, the other child, died in infancy. Mr. 
and Mrs. Lee have two children: Harry 
Mower, a graduate of the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons in New York City; and 
Rowena Mossette, who was graduated at the 
high school in New London, and is an accom- 
plished musician. 

Mr. Lee is a thirty-second degree Mason. 
He is a Republican politically, and has taken 
an active part in politics during the last ten 
years. He served as a member of the Com- 
mon Council between the years [888 and 
1 89 1, and in the latter year was elected an 



BIOGRAPHICAL REV I EW 



459 



Alderman. The year following he was .1 
candidate for Representative, but was defeated 
with must of the candidates of his party that 
year. In [894 he was elected to the Connect- 
icut Senate, being the first Republican Sen- 
ator to be elected from this district within the 
twelve years previous to that time. Two 
rs later he was re-elected to the Senate, 
and both terms he served his constituents 
faithfully and well. He was chairman of the 
Appropriation Committee, his report being re- 
ceived most favorably by Governor Cook, who 
indorsed in the strongest terms the action of 
the committee. He was also chairman of the 
Military Committee, and served on the Com- 
mittee on New Towns and Probate Districts. 
With respect to the former, his experience as 
a member of the National Guard for many 
years made him particularly eligible. His 
services while in the Senate were highly ap- 
preciated, and received honorable mention in 
the Hartford and Norwich press. Mr. Lee 
inherited from his lather the pleasant house 
and grounds where the elder Lee settled more 
than liltv years before. The small dwellings 
which the latter purchased with three or four 
n res nl land on the commons, and which was 
the first house erected in this part of the town, 
is still standing, ami forms pan of Mr. I 
nt home. 




HESTER S. MAINE 51 is a farmer of 
North Stonington, Conn., where he 
was born on December 16, i860. 
His paternal grandfather was John Ma 
whose wife was a Brown. They had a family 
of four sons and four daughters, the only one 
now living being a daughter, Elizabeth, 
widow ot John Clark, of Stonington. 

John S. Maine, one of the four sons, father 
of Chester S., was born in Stonington in 
1832. He was engaged for some years as a 



dealer in live I on In- was a gen- 

eral farmer, lie married Frances Wheeler. 
They had four children, and brought up three, 
as follows: Chester S. Maine; Fannie, wife 
of George 1). Coats, nt Stonington; and 
Annie M. Maine, living with her mother in 
the same town. The lather died March 25, 
. mi the farm where he had settled in 

is;.). 

1 Tester S. had a g I common-school edu- 

iii'in, supplemented by a term at Ashaway 
Ai nlemy. Since his father's death he has re- 
mained at home and managed the farm, which 
emit tins three hundred acres. lie keeps a 
dairy of fifteen to twenty-five grade Jersey 
cows, and has a milk route in Westerly, R.I. 
His barn is commodious and convenient, hav- 
ing a splendid capacity for a large stock of 
cattle, horses, and hay. The old farm-h 
was erected at leasl a century ago. 

Mr. Maine was married July 7, 1S86, to 
Abigail Newton, of Hartford, daughter of 
William Newton. She was educated in Hart- 
ford and in the State Normal School at New 
Britain, Conn.; ami she taught school a few 
terms before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. 
Maine have one child, Carrol Chester, a prom- 
ising lad of eight years. Mrs. Maine is one 
of the three ladies who compose the School 
Board of the town. She is a member of the 
Baptist church. Mr. Maine has been a Dem- 
ocrat in politics, and some years ago was a 
Selectman, but in general has neither sought 
nor filled any office. 



I.ISIIA STARR CHESTER* is a well- 
known resident ot the town of Water- 
ford, and was born on his pre 
lain), which lies about three and a half miles 
west of New I tober 3, 1 843, being 

a son ot Thomas Chester. Mr. Chester is 
gnized as an energetic and skilful agri- 



460 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



culturist and one of the substantial and reli- 
able citizens of his town. He traces his 
ancestry to Samuel Chester, who came to Con- 
necticut with Governor John Winthrop, and 
was one of the original settlers of New Lon- 
don, taking up land at Groton Bank. He 
owned a large tract which now forms part of 
the site of Groton village, that part on which 
the monument and Fort Griswold stand. His 
residence was on Fisher's Island with Gov- 
ernor Winthrop. Of his family of sons and 
daughters, the one next in line of descent to 
the subject of this sketch was John, who re- 
sided in Groton, where he built what was 
known as the "Square House," which re- 
mained in possession of the family for many 
years. John had eight children, of whom 
Thomas was the great-grandfather of Elisha 
Starr Chester. Thomas resided at Eastern 
Point, in Groton, where he built a house that 
is still occupied by his descendants, and is the 
place where the annual family gatherings 
occur. His son Elisha was born at Eastern 
Point about 1764, and was followed in the line 
of descent by his son Thomas, who was born at 
the same place in 1801, and was the father of 
Elisha S. Mr. Chester can thus take pride in 
a long line of sturdy New England ancestry, 
men who have done their share in their walk of 
life in developing the resources of this section, 
and whose record is one of which their de- 
scendants need not be ashamed. 



ONATHAN W. THAYER,* an es- 
teemed citizen of Stonington, Conn., 
for many years a railroad employee, was 
born (in October 27, 1822, in Braintree, Mass. 
His father, William Thayer, born in Marsh- 
field, Mass., about 1792, was a shoemaker by 
trade, and carried on the business as a manu- 
facturer before the days of shoe factories and 



machine-made shoes. He died in 185 1. His 
wife, Deborah Wilde, of Braintree, whom he 
married in 181 3, was a remarkable woman of 
very strong character. Some years after her 
husband's death she went to live with her 
daughter in Cleveland, Ohio, where she died 
in 1879. Mr. and Mrs. William Thayer had 
seven children, all of whom married and had 
families. One son is Lyman W. Thayer, who 
died in 1893, in Detroit, Mich., at the age of 
fifty-two, leaving a widow and three children. 
The six survivors of the parental household 
are: William Frank, living in Cohasset, who 
has had twelve children, of whom five died; 
Ezra W., living in Arizona, and now over 
eighty years of age; Frances, a widow living 
in Cleveland, Ohio; Jonathan W., of whom 
we shall speak more fully; Ann, widow of 
a Mr. Lowd, living in Cleveland; and Justin 
Edward, also living in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Jonathan W. Thayer, subject of this sketch, 
was named for his uncle, Jonathan Wilde, for 
many years a skilled physician of Braintree, 
Mass. He grew to maturity in his native 
town, receiving but meagre schooling, as dur- 
ing his youth he spent most of his time work- 
ing at the shoemaking bench with his father. 
In 1840 he left home for Stonington, where 
he and his brother Ezra opened a small boot 
and shoe store. The town then was not much 
more than a sailing port, but the two young 
men made their business a success. Jonathan 
eventually bought his brother out, and con- 
ducted the business by himself, employing 
men and doing custom work until the breaking 
out of the Civil War, during which for three 
years or more he was a clerk with a division 
sutler. After that for twenty-seven years he 
was employed as a switchman by the Stoning- 
ton Railroad. The length of his service 
shows that he was faithful and efficient, always 
alert and at his post. When the railroad 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



461 



1 ompany began to make use of the telegraph 
in running their trains, Mr. Thayer, consider- 
ing himself too old to learn the new method, 

jned his position. Mr. Thayer was at one 
time Burgess oi Stonington. In politics he 

always been a strong Republican. 
On February 22, [843, he married Cather- 
ine J-l. Stanton, of Stonington, a daughter of 
James and Desire (Palmer) Stanton, both 
members ol old families, descended, the one 
from Walter Palmer, and the other from the 
Stantons of the Revolution, of Fort Griswold 
fame. Mr. and Mrs. Thayer have four chil- 
dren, namely: John Henry, an engineer on 
the water, who has a wife and two children; 
Kate E., who lives at home; Edward 1)., an 
accountant and paymaster in the railroad 
machine shops at Stonington, who has a wife 
and one daughter; and Maria Louise, who 
lives at home with her parents. Mr. and 
Mrs. Thayer live very happily in their com- 
modious brick dwelling, which Mr. Thayer 
bought about nineteen years ago. Mr. Thayer 
has an honorable record, and both he and his 
wife are much respected in Stonington. 




iRS. ELLEN B. MANWARING,* 

of Xew London, is the widow ol 
Dr. Robert Alexander Manwar- 
ing, whose death, September 1, 1890, at the 
age of seventy-nine, removed from this city 
one of her most beloved ami honored citizens. 
Mrs. Manwaring is a daughter of the Hon. 
Noyes and Mary (Chester) Barber. Her 
father, who was a member of Congress four- 
teen years, had many close friends among the 
leading men of his times; and of those enter 
tained in his home the daughter remembers 
mors Ellsworth, Peters, and Trumbull, 
and others. The Hon. Noyes Barber was 
twite married. His first wife died young, 



leaving a son and two daughters, all now de- 
ceased. Four children were born of his sec- 
ond union, namely: Noyes, who died in early 
life; John Stari'; Mary E., who the 

wife of a Rev. Mr. Whitman, ami died, leav- 
ing two children; and Ellen, Mrs. Manwar- 
ing. The Hmi. Noyes Barber died in 1S43, 
aged sixty-two, and Mrs. Barber three years 
later. Ellen Barber completed her studies at 
a boarding-school in Xew Haven. She was 
married to Dr. Manwaring, on May 15, [845, 
who was born August 11, 1811, son 'I I hri 
pher and Mary i\\ olcotl I Manwai 1 

The Manwaring family in England have 
had titles and landed estates. Sir Ranulphus 
Manwaring (or Mesnilwarin) held the office 
of Justice of Chester in the reign oi Richard 
I. Oliver Manwaring, the founder of the 
Connecticut branch, settled in Xew London in 
1664. The representatives of the six sun 
ing generations are Richard, ChristO] 
Robert, Christopher, Robert Alexander, and 
Wolcott, the last named the only son and 
child of Dr. and Mrs. Manwaring. 

Christopher, the father of Dr. Manwari 
was prominent in Xew London, both in 1 
ness and political affairs. He was a Democrat 
of the Jefferson-Jackson school, and held many 
important public offices. Mary Wolcott Man- 
waring, his wife, was a grand daughter of 
Oliver Wolcott, who was a member of the 
Continental Congress, one of the si 
the Declaration of Independence and the 
Articles of Confederation, a Major-general in 
the Revolutionary War, and 1 . 
necticut. His father, Roger Wolcott, was .1 
Colonial Governoi ol I lonnecl i< ut. We are 
told thai Mary Wol< ott was cell 1 rated for her 
ity and rare qualities of mind and temper; 
and her only son, the la! Doctor, inl I ited, 
it is said, in a marked degree bis mother's 
patience, gentleness, and absolute inability to 



462 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



cherish malice. The house in which Dr. 
Man waring died was built by his father about 
ninety years ago, and the land on which it 
was built is a part of the farm once owned by 
William Thompson, the first missionary to 
the Indians in this section; but only the lot 
of two acres where the dwelling stands re- 
mains in the family, the rest having been sold 
off for building lots for other homes. The 
farm was the original grant from the town to 
George Chappell in 1650. Eight years later 
he sold to Mr. Thompson. In 1664 it was 
sold to Joshua Raymond for his brother-in- 
law, Oliver Manwaring, the first of that fam- 
ily to come from England. This two-acre lot 
has ever since been owned by a descendant, 
and is now the property of Mrs. Manwaring 
and her son, Wolcott Barber Manwaring. 

Robert Alexander Manwaring did not enjoy 
the advantages of a college training; but 
breadth of mind, combined with indefatigable 
toil, compensated in large measure. At the 
medical school he was a classmate of Oliver 
Wendell Holmes, and a warm friendship al- 
ways existed between them. Upon the Auto- 
crat's eightieth birthday he was the recipient 
of one of the poet's inimitable letters. To 
quote from an article that appeared in a local 
sheet after his death: "At a very early age 
he entered upon the practice of his chosen 
profession. Hard as is a doctor's life, it is 
absolutely easy compared to that of the physi- 
cian of nearly sixty years ago, who could 
scarcely count on forty winks or a meal undis- 
turbed by a summons. The late Doctor was 
the leading one of Eastern Connecticut, and 
responded invariably to all calls, no matter 
how far off or wearisome. It was no uncom- 
mon occurrence for him to return from an all- 
night task, and at once begin a round of visits 
that occupied all day. He was devoted to his 
profession, in which he held a just pre-emi- 



nence. . . . Notwithstanding his laborious 
life, he was uncommonly vigorous in mind and 
body, and had looked forward for many years 
of happy contentment in his ancestral home 
upon Manwaring Hill, to which he had lately 
returned, and whence the angel of the Lord 
summoned him to his reward, after a brief 
warning, Monday morning. 

" Dr. Manwaring possessed a profound and 
many-sided intellect. His mind was a veri- 
table storehouse of knowledge. He was a cap- 
ital companion, an entertaining raconteur, 
humorous and philosophical in a rare combina- 
tion, and keenly appreciative of a good thing. 
Taken all in all, he was one whose like we 
seldom see, a perfectly upright character, 
scorning deceit, loving right for Christ Jesus' 
sake, harboring no resentment, profoundly re- 
ligious in feeling, yet loving all Christians, 
shaping every thought and deed by the Golden 
Rule, seeking only to be the servant of God. 
Well hath he served Him who has ere this said 
to him, ' Well done, thou good and faithful 
servant!'" He had labored as a physician 
more than half a century. 

Mrs. Manwaring and her son, Wolcott Bar- 
ber Manwaring, now occupy the homestead, 
the son having charge of the estate left by 
Dr. Manwaring. For fifteen years he was 
engaged in the oil region, putting clown wells. 
Mis. Manwaring is a member of the Second 
Congregational Church. 




cr/TEI'IIEN P. STERLING,* a farmer 
of Lyme, was born October 15, 
1N42, mi the old homestead where, 
also, his father Stephen and grandfather 
Stephen first saw the light. The house was 
built by his great - great - grandfather, John 
Sterling, who was a son of Daniel, who was 
a son of William, the first settler of Lyme, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



l r >3 



ing from Massachusetts about 1700. The 
family is said to be of Scotch origin, and 
descended from David, who came to this coun- 
try in 1650. Daniel Sterling married Mary 
Ely, by whom he bad the following children : 
Elizabeth, born in 1699; Daniel; John, born 
in 1703; Joseph; Abigail; and Mary. 
John, son of Daniel and Mary Sterling, in 
1727 married .Abigail Pratt, by whom he had 
two (laughters Elizabeth and Abigail. He 
married for his second wife, December 30, 
1731, Jane Ransom, and by her had twelve 
children: John, bom 1 7 3 J ; Nathan, bom 

; Stephen, from whom Stephen P. is 
descended, born 1738; Daniel, born 1740; 
Abigail, bom 1742; Jacob, bom 1744; Jane, 
bom 1746; Simon, bom 1749; Esther, born 
1751; Lucy, bom 1753; Miriam, born 1755; 
and Mary, bom 1 757. Stephen, the great- 
grandfather, married May II, 1766, Elizabeth 
II. Tucker, by whom he had five children: 
Stephen, bom March 22, 1767; Marshlicld, 
bom March 13, 17(19; Isaac, who died in 
infancy; Esther, born September 16, 1773; 
and Elizabeth, bom in March, 1777. The 
father died in 1776, at thirty-nine years of 
His son Stephen married Polly Brown, 
September 24, 1798, by whom he had: 
Stephen, bom May 5, 1801 ; and John, born 

ber 16, 1803, who died an infant. The 
father of these children died in 1845, at the 
eventy-eight years; and their mother 
attained the i\^c of seventy. Their son, 
.ben Sterling, father ol the subject of this 
sketch, married December 9, 1N24, Sarah M. 
Marvin, who was bom in Lyme in 1 
daughter of Asahel A. and Azubah (Sill) 
Marvin. They had four children : Asahel M., 
born December 27, [825, who died here April 
20, 1868; Mary E., bom February 1, 1828; 
Sarah E., bom April 27, 1838; and Stephen 
P. The two daughters have been successful 



hers, and now reside at the homestead. 
The father died in 1867, si\ years alter bis 
wife's death. 

Stephen I'. Sterling is a prominent citizen 
of his native town. He has served as Grand 
Juror, and was in the legislature of iSm, dm 
ing the memorable deadlock serving mi the 
Committee ol Forfeited Rights. He mar- 
ried October 15, 1868, Annie Warner, <i 
Lyme daughter ol Jefferson and Sarah 

(Lay) Warner; and they have one daugh 
Sarah W. Sterling, bom November 19, 1N70. 




r LFRED C. GUILE, 1 ' the well-known 
wagon-maker ol Preston, was born 

here November 30, 1836, S 
Henry and Ellen (Lewis) Guile. His parents 

the foster-children of two brothers by the 
name .it Brown. Henry Guile was bom in 
Preston, or Griswold, about 1805, and died in 
Preston in 1880. He was a tanner, and 
made a business of cutting ship timber. He 
married Ellen Lewis in 1S25, and had thir- 
teen children, of whom eight lived to matu- 
rity, their record being in pait as follows: 
William S. , who was a wheelwright and 

n-maker, died May 2, 1879, his mother's 
death occurring the same year. Daniel, a 
farmer and miller, died in July, 1896, at the 
age of sixty-four years. May Ellen married 
Junes II. Fitch, of Preston. Ezra is a farmer 
of Preston, and was formerly proprietor of the 
saw-mill. Ada married Ira Kinney, and re- 
sides in Griswold. Jane, tin -t mem- 
ber of the family, became the wife "i Albert 
Button, and died in Griswold, in the prime 
of life, lca\ ing four children. 

Alfred C. Guile tight up on his 

r's farm, and but a limited 

schooling, being obliged to assist bis father 
in the mill also. At th I twenty 



4 r 't 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



he began to make wagons with his brother 
William. In i S6i he bought his brother's 
share in the business, and continued the latter 
in East Preston till [887, when he removed to 
his present location in Preston village. Mr. 
Guile has been a man of great strength and 
endurance, which qualities he has fostered by 
continued industry, taking the timber from the 
stump, and making every part of a vehicle. 
He has often forty or fifty wagons on hand at 
one time; and, though the grip and rheuma- 
tism have seriously affected his health, he is 
still at the bench. 

At the age of twenty-four Mr. Guile mar- 
ried Sarah Loncom, of Voluntown, Conn. 
They have lost their first-born, Hattie, who 
died in 1889, in the twenty-ninth year of her 
age. Their second child, Albert, who lives 
in Rhode Island, has been twice married, and 
has three children. Dora, the youngest, is 
the wife of George Barber, a farmer of Gris- 
wold. Mr. Guile is a Democrat politically, 
and served as Representative to the legislat- 
ure in 1872 and again in 1876. He is now 
a Grand Juror of the town. 



7~AAPTAIN EDMUND R. LWEN,* 
\J\ ship-master, of New London, Conn., 

^i 8 ^ was born in Norwich, this State, on 
February 27, 1827, son of Captain David 
Ewen and Prudence Carew Ewen. His father 
was born December 15, 17N8, and was mar- 
ried by the Rev. John Stalling, "it August 
26, 1 8 10, to Miss Carew, who was born April 
26, 1 791. He spent most of his life upon the 
water, was a sailor and a mechanic, and was 
a boat-builder and cabinet-maker in Norwich 
when not upon the seas. He died November 
13, 1864; and his wife died July 22, 1873. 

Mr. Ewen is the eighth of eleven children 
bull) to his parents, and is now the last sur- 



vivor of the family. He was reared to a 
sailor's life, and when but a lad served as 
cook upon his father's vessel. He left home 
at sixteen years of age, and shipped before the 
mast on board a full-rigged ship, the " India," 
Captain Albert Miller. They were gone 
thirty-two months on a whaling voyage, and 
brought back forty-four hundred barrels of oil 
and a large amount of whalebone, of which he 
was given a share. His next experience was 
a seven months' coasting cruise on a ship 
owned by his brother, Henry C. Ewen. After 
a year or two more of voyaging and coasting he 
shipped on board the " Charles Carroll," Cap- 
tain Frank Smith, for San PTancisco; but, 
after rounding the Cape, he and five other 
volunteers left the ship, for the captain's 
pleasure boat, the "Chelsea Smith," under 
the first mate. Reaching San Francisco in 
sixty-five days, he shortly went to work in the 
mines, at eight dollars a day and board. He 
spent some years in California, experiencing 
the ups and downs of that adventurous country 
and time. 

Mr. Ewen married April 14, 1S58, Frances 
P. Walden, who was bom September 15, 
1832, daughter of George and Mary Walden, 
and a distant connection of his family. Their 
home was in Norwich until 1875, when they 
built their present dwelling on the Point. No 
children have been born to them; but they 
have an adopted daughter, in whom they take 
pride and comfort, Carrie Welde, who was 
orphaned at the age of five years. She was 
graduated from the Young Ladies' High 
School with honors, is quite musical, and per- 
forms well upon the pianoforte. 

Captain Ewen was on the steamer " City of 
New London" fur six years, four years as 
wheelman and two years as pilot, with Captain 
C. II. Luphere. He was on board when she 
was burned near Norwich, November 22, 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 



4 r >5 



1 87 1, and seventeen men were drowned. lie- 
was first captain of the steamer " I.illie " 
from New London to New York, in the Cen- 
tral Point Line, for several years. His next 
command was their steamer " Doris, " which 
he left in December, 1895. He has not per- 
manently retired from the sea, but is taking 
a much needed rest. The Captain is a Repub- 
lican voter. lie has long been a member of 
the First Baptist Church, to which his father 
belonged. One oi his most cherished [losses 
sions is his father's old Bible, thumbed and 
worn. This cherished volume was given to 
his lather by the Rev. Ezra Cbappell nearly 
fifty years ago. 

•AMES BINGHAM,* a retired manu- 
facturer residing at Pleasant Valley, in 
North Lyme, was born in Scotland, 
ten miles from Edinburgh, April 16, 181 5, 
son of Thomas and Alain (Ketchem) Bingham. 
His parents came to this country in 1825. 
They had a family of four daughters and one son. 
James Bingham at the age of ten years 

in to learn the paper-maker's trade, which 
had been fid lowed by his father and by his 
maternal grandfather. He worked for sixteen 
years in the mills at I'ennycuick, in Scotland, 
making the finest of hand-made paper for bank 
notes and other special purposes. lie learned 
all parts of the business thoroughly, becoming 
a most skilled workman. In 1 S 4 5 he came to 
America, bringing with him his wife and two 
children. For two years he lived in Pater- 
son, N.J., but subsequently removed to Water- 
ford, Conn., in company with his two brothers- 
in-law, the Robertsons, and started a pa 
mill for the manufacture of thin manilla 

1, which was carried on most successfully 
under tin name oi Robertson & Bingham, Mr. 

ham being the practical man of the busi- 
ness. During the eighteen years of his stay 



in Waterford they built up a plant \\ 
some thirty thousand dollars to forty thousand 
dollars. Mr. Bingham also helped in the 
financial department and with the bunks. 
The firm made fine tissue papers for patterns, 
which was sold as high as thirty cents pet- 
pound during the war. In prosperous limes 
the receipts wne over one hundred thousand 
dollars a year. At the end of eighteen -, 
Mr. Bingham sold out his interest in Water- 
ford, and in [862 built a mill at Oakdale. 
This did not prove a very successful venture; 
and he afterward gave it up, and started a 
mill in North Lyme. He came to his present 
home from Montville seventeen years ago. 
.Mr. Bingham's first wife, Margaret Rol 
son, died in Waterford at the age of sixty 
years. Their son Thomas died when about 
twenty-two and one-hall years old. The liv- 
ing children of this first union aie: Joanna, 
wife of James Cochran, and mother of five- 
children, living in Tampa, I-'la. ; Catherine, 
who keeps house for her brother James; and 
Edward, who lives in Waterford, and superin- 
tends the two paper-mills for the Robertsons. 
The last-named is married, and the fathei ol 
two sons and a daughter. .Mr. Bingham mar- 
ried for his second wife Cynthia -Ann Scho- 
field, who was born in Waterford in [819, not 
far from the paper-mills. Her father was a 
manufacturer of woollen cloths. In r8l2, 
when about twenty-one years old, he invented 
a loom, and in it made the first satini I 
suit of which, made by Mr. Schofield, was 
worn by President Monroe, on his inaugura- 
tion. Mr. Schofield died February 14, [892, 
nearly one hundred and two years old. His 
father, John Schofieli to this country 

from England with his wife and six children, 
lie was a man of large busi ness interi 
started his first factory near Boston, about 
1793, and later owned four in Westerly, 



4 66 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Stillmanville, Montville, and Waterford. 
Mrs. Bingham is the only survivor of three 
children. During several years past Mr. 
Bingham has been partially deprived of the 
use of his lower limbs, and can only walk with 
the aid of canes. 




HARLES P. WILLIAMS,* of New 
York and of Stonington, his native 
town, is the only son of the late 
Charles Phelps Williams, of Stonington, and 
his wife, Georgia Babcock Williams, now 
living in New York City. 

Ephraim Williams, the father of Charles 
Phelps, was born in Stonington, May 31, 
1756, and died in July, 1804, on his farm 
three miles from the village. On December 
2 3< l 7^7< he married Hepsibeth Phelps, 
daughter of Dr. Charles and Hannah (Deni- 
son) Phelps. They had two sons and a daugh- 
ter; namely, Ephraim, Charles Phelps, and 
Sai di Potter. The daughter died July 24, 
[824, at twenty-three. Ephraim Williams, 
Sr., was a son of William and Martha 
(Wheeler) Williams, both natives of Stoning- 
ton. William Williams was born May 1, 
1716; and his wife, to whom he was married 
February 15, 1 738, was born in 1717. She 
died in 1784, and he in 1S01. He followed 
ship-building. William Williams, his father, 
was a son of Colonel John Williams, who was 
bom in 1692, and in 171 1 or 1712 married 
Desire Denison, whose birth occurred in 1693. 
She died in 1737, and he in 1761. John 
Williams, the father of Colonel John, and the 
first of the family to settle in Stonington, was 
born in Massachusetts in 1667. On January 
24, 1687, he married Martha A. Wheeler. 
She was born in 1669, and died in 1745. 
Isaac Williams, the father of John, was born 
in Roxbury, in 1638, and died at what is now 
Newton, Mass., in 1707. He was married 



in 1660 to Martha Park, of Roxbury, his first 
wife. The father of Isaac Williams was Rob- 
ert, who came to this country from England 
in 1637, and settled in Roxbury, Mass., where 
he was made a freeman in 1638. He died 
September 15, 1693, at the age of eighty-five. 
His wife, Elizabeth, died July 28, 1674, aged 
eighty years. 

Charles Phelps Williams, the youngest 
child of Ephraim Williams, was born June 
11, 1804, at Wequetequock, in the town of 
Stonington, and on both sides was connected 
with the oldest families here. His mother 
was a daughter of Dr. Charles Phelps, a physi- 
cian of great influence. Ephraim Williams 
died shortly after his son's birth; and the 
family removed soon after to Stonington bor- 
ough, a place even then much interested in 
foreign commerce. Charles Phelps Williams 
passed his boyhood days here, and earl}- devel- 
oped marked business capacity. In 1821, 
before he was seventeen, he sailed in the 
capacity of supercargo to Bilboa, Spain; and, 
after be bad sailed again to the same port, and 
before he was twenty, he made a voyage to the 
African coast as master of what was then a 
large vessel. The seal fisheries next attracted 
his attention. Establishing himself perma- 
nently in the village of Stonington, he em- 
barked in that enterprise, and, before he 
abandoned it, had laid the foundation of his 
large fortune. He next tried whaling, and 
was one of the largest individual ship-owners 
engaged in that pursuit during its highest 
development After that business began to 
fall off, he withdrew from active commercial 
life. 

He was one of the incorporators of the 
Ocean Bank of Stonington, and, being chosen 
president, remained in office, administering 
its affairs till his resignation in 1856, when 
he went to Europe with his family. On his 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



l r '7 



return he was elected first director, a position 
which he retained after the reorganization of 
the hank as the First National. He took an 
active part in the building of the Providence 
& Stonington Railroad, .mil was president of 
the corporation for many years. The manage- 
ment of his accumulated property requ 
must nt his attention in later years. He was 
well known in business circles throughout the 
itry, and his success gave value to. his 
judgment and opinion on all financial matters. 
lie was one who avoided public life, and was 
averse to all ostentation. The date of his 
ii was October 28, 1 N79. 

Charles Phelps Williams was twice married. 
II is first wife, whose maiden name was Smith, 
left one daughter. On June 11, 1S61, he 
married Georgia P. Babcock, daughter of 
Courtland and Elizabeth C. Babcock, of Phil- 
adelphia. Her father was born March 25, 
1806, and died here February 10, 1853. Her 
parents were married August 5, 1834. They 
had five children. Courtland Babcock, one of 
their two sons, died in Stonington in April, 
[896, leaving a widow and four children. 

daughter, Louise Babcock, is the wii 
a Mr. Tillinghast, of New York. Her sis- 
. Amelia C. Babcock and Elizabeth (Mrs. 
Williams), also live in that city. A son and 
daughter were horn to Charles Phelps and 
Georgia P. Williams, namely: Georgia, wife 
of George Henry Warren, residing in New 
York City, and having two children — Con- 
stance and George; and Charles P., the special 
subject of this sketch. 

Charles P. Williams completed his educa- 
tion abroad. The beautiful place where he 
lives, containing one hundred and forty acres, 
is a part of his father's large estate. About 
five miles from here he has a large stock farm 
known as Highland barm, where he keeps a 
dairy of one hundred cows. He also owns 



from twenty to thirty horses. In the past he 
has done a large retail business in live si 
and he purposes going into the wholi 
and shipping in I'm', idei 

Mr. Williams was married in 1889, in New 
Vi rk City, to .Miss Elizabeth P. Brooks, of 
Minneapolis, Minn. Her father, William 1-'. 
ks, was a merchant in that city; and her 
widowed mother, Annie Oakley Brooks, still 
lives there. Mr. and Mis. Williams have two 
children: Elizabeth, six years old; and 
Georgia, aged three. 

Mr. Williams is a member of Union and 
Calumet Clubs, of New York City, the fust 
named the oldest in the country. He was 
also at one time a member of the Metropoli 
tan Club. "Stone Ridge," Mr. Williams's 
beautiful residence, stands upon an eminence, 
and may be seen miles away. It affords a fine 
view of the Sound from two sides; and on the 
other two long rows of hills tower, one above 
the other, losing themselves in the Inn 1 
The approaches are by two beautiful g 
the first from the highway as one conns from 
Stonington, from which a length}', circular 
drive leads to the front entrance of the i 
sion, the other, at some distance below, lead- 
ing to the fit)' barns and carriage-house. 
The massive stone pillars of these broad g 
ways are noteworthy for their architectural 
design. 

f SJeORGE W. FENGAR," a retired I 
V [3 I chant, residing at 10 Williams Street, 
New London, Conn., was born in 
this city in 1826. His parents were Gei 
W. ami Fannie (Boulton) Fengar. His 
tenia! grandfather was an Englishman 1 v 
birth. Lie came to Connecticut at the time 
of the Revolutionary War, and settled in 
Waterford. At his death he left thn 
and three daughters. .All of these chil 



4 68 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



lived to be married and have families, and 
some survived to old age. 

The senior George W. Fengar was a native 
of Waterford. He married Fannie Boulton, 
who was born in New London in 1809. 
Three children were the fruit of their union, 
namely: George W. , subject of this sketch; 
Oliver Fengar, who died here in 1873, at the 
age of forty-four, leaving three children; and 
Frances, widow of Peter Bromley, also of this 
city. George W. Fengar, the father, died in 
[ 831 ; and the mother, who was left a widow 
at the age of twenty-two, lived to the age of 
sixty-seven, dying in 1876. The children 
were all very young when they were left 
fatherless. 

George W., the elder of the two sons, had 
limited educational advantages in his child- 
hood, attending school but one term. At the 
age of nine years, being obliged to begin 
work, he went into the livery stable of the old 
City Hotel; and from that time on he earned 
his own living. When he was eighteen years 
old, he entered the employ of Hobron & r Den- 
nis in the meat business; and after twelve 
years' experience with them he began driving 
a meat wagon for himself. For twenty-five 
years he was located at 14 Main Street, being 
for eighteen years a member of the firm of 
John Dennis & Co., later known under the 
style of G. \V. Fengar & Co., and for seven 
years with Roswell W. Tinker. During the 
war he furnished meat to a garrison, having as 
many as fifteen hundred to feed at one time. 
After he had made a contract to furnish meat 
at twelve and a half cents a pound, prices 
advanced, causing him to lose money. In 
1878 he retired from business. In politics 
he votes independently. He has had a good 
pnlitical record, but he has never held office. 

On October 24, 1854, Mr. Fengar was 
united in marriage with Mary Rixford, who 



was born here June 14, 1830. Her father, 
Flijah Rixford, was a stone-mason, and died 
in this city at the age of sixty years; and her 
mother, Mary Dart Rixford, died January 1, 
1889, at the age of eighty-nine years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Rixford had reared but two of their 
four children : Harriet, who became the wife 
of Charles Bentley, and died in 1883, at the 
age of fifty-nine, without children; and Mrs. 
Fengar, who is now almost entirely bereft of 
relatives, having but three cousins living. 
During the forty-two years of her wedded life 
she has moved but once, when her husband 
purchased their pleasant house, thirty-eight 
years ago, on the corner of Williams and 
Chappell Streets. Mr. and Mrs. Fengar 
joined the Hunting Street Baptist Church 
forty-seven years ago, and are now the oldest 
living members. For thirty years they have 
officiated on various committees. 



AMES E. DeWOLF,* of Norwich, wis 
born in Salem, Conn., December 5, 
1K42, son of Edward and Sophia Jane 
(Latimer) DeWolf, and on the paternal side 
is of French descent. His grandparents, 
Ephraim and Elizabeth E. (Wood) DeWolf, 
were both of Lyme, Conn. His father, Ed- 
ward DeWolf, was born in Salem, where he 
died in April, 1893, in the eighty-third year 
of his age. He married in 1836 Sophia 
Jane Latimer, of Chesterfield, by whom he 
had six sons and one daughter — Thomas E., 
John, George P., Frank, Henry P., Evelyn. 
Upon the breaking out of the Civil War the 
four elder sons enlisted as defenders of the 
Union with the free consent of their father, 
who said that he might as well lose his sons 
as his country. Thomas lost his life in 1864, 
at the age of twenty-four. He was mortally 
wounded in the battle of Winchester, was 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 






taken prisoner with Lieutenant John T. Ma- 
ginnis, and was exchanged from Libby Prison. 
|ohn F. participated in General Sheridan's 
raid, and, while at Petersburg, fell sick 
died. He fills an unknown grave. George 
served with his brother John in the first Con- 

icut Cavalry. He was afterward a paint 
dealer in Spencer, Mass. Frank is a fanner, 
and lives upon the homestead in Salem. 
Henry 1'. is a farmer in Norwich. Evelyn 
married Frank Rogers. 

James K., the second son of his parents and 

the special subject of this sketch, was under 

eral Hanks at Port Hudson, and saw fif- 

months of service in the Union army. 

Upon his return from the war he became a 

ilman on the Norwich police force. Dur- 
ing the two years in which he held the position 
he made some important arrests, and he after- 
ward served on the special police force for 
several years. In July, 1869, he became en- 

d in the business of undertaking, in part- 
nership with Henry Allen, Sr. After the 
death of Mr. Allen, his son Amos took his 
place in the firm, and with Mr. DeWolf con- 
tinued to carry on the business a number of 
years. In 18114 Amos Alien went to Califor- 
nia, and from that time till May. [897, when 
Mr. DeWolf retired to his farm, a third part- 
ner was associated with him. Mr. DeWolf's 
place is situated just outsid( the town limits, 
on the Thomasville road, at the famous old 
[Yadiri Cove. 

Mr. DeWplf married his second wife, for- 
merly Lizzie H. Lucas, in May, 1877. She 
was born and reared on this farm, being the 

liter of Joseph Lucas, who was a steam- 
boat engineer employed on the Connecticut 
River. Mis. DeWolf was one of a family 
comprising eight daughters arid one son, of 
whom six daughters and the son are living. 
Their mother died at the age of eighty. The 




er survived until he reached his nin 
ind year. Mr. I leWoli I) lifelong 

student of natural history, and is lover 

ol dogs and horses, b( 

■ us to whom tin- sagacious animals are in- 
stinctively attracted, and whom they love and 
il : ikes the greatest care -1 his ani- 
mals, and keeps them always in excellent 1 
dition. Mr. DeWoli is one of a plucky and 
persevering family who have always shown a 
public spirit and a strong sense of the respon- 
sibility of life. 

LIVER WOLCOTT SISSON,* of 

Colchester, a retired contractor and 
builder, was born in Ellington, Tol- 
land County, Conn., December 9, 1820, son 
of Oliver and Lucretia (Tiffany) Sisson. He 
belongs to the Rhode Island Sissons, an old 
Colonial family. 

Mr. Sisson's grandfather, Jonathan Sisson, 
born in 1750, came to Lyme in the year 1800 
with his brother Thomas, and died in that 
town about 1832. Thomas Sisson went to 
Hartford, where his son Thomas is to-day a 
druggist. Grandfather Sisson owned a farm 
of one hundred acres or more two miles from 
ant Valley on Eight Mile River, on 
which he had a grist-mill and a saw-mill. 
His wife was a Bliven, ami bore bin 
children, five sons and six daughters. They, 
ther with the Ransoms and Loomises, had 
thirty children, all told. Grandmother Sisson 
lived to be about eighty years old. and was 
the beloved and delightful friend of all her 
grandchildren, of whom there was a 1 
number. She had sparkling black eyes and a 
vivacious and always cheerful nature. Two of 
her sons, Oliver and Nathan, were sailors; and 
Nathan was lost at sea, going down, it was 
supposed, with his vi I all on board, as 

nothing was ever heard from any of the crew. 



470 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



Oliver, father of the subject of this sketch, 
was born at Hopkinton, R.I. In his youth 
and early manhood he went across the Atlan- 
tic to Liverpool several times, when it took 
at least three months to make the round trip. 
He left the water when he married, in 1817, 
and began as a farmer on rented land in 
Ellington, where his first three children were 
born. His wife was Lucretia Tiffany, of 
Salem, daughter of Ebenezer Tiffany. She 
died in 18S1, at the advanced age of nearly 
ninety-one years. She was a noble-hearted 
woman and a model mother. The Rev. Mr. 
Willard said the last ten years of her life 
were a perpetual Sabbath. Her children 
were: 'Allen, born 1 8 1 7 ; William, born 1818; 
Oliver, born 1820; Ebenezer, born in Salem; 
and Catherine Tiffany, born in Lyme in 1S25, 
now the widow of William Patten, to whom 
she was married February 22, 1853. Mr. 
Patten died in Colchester, September, 1877, 
at the age of sixty-four years. He began 
business with but little capital, but by energy 
and good management accumulated a comfort- 
able property, and at his death left a pleasant 
home and thirty acres of land in the borough 
of Colchester to his widow. 

Oliver Wolcott Sisson, when eight years 
old, went to Northern Vermont with his great- 
uncle, John Corning, a noted horse jockey 
and dealer, who had a large trade in Boston, 
Hartford, and New Haven. Riding horses 
and making himself generally useful, Mr. 
Sisson remained in Vermont six years. In 
1834, a youth of fourteen, he went to Stoning- 
ton, where he served five years as an appren- 
tice to learn the carpenter's trade, and had a 
hard time of it, his needs as to food and cloth- 
ing being but scantily supplied. In 1849 -^' r - 
Sisson caught the "'gold fever," and in No- 
vember he started from New York to go via 
the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco. 



Upon the evening of his arrival, in February, 
1850, he went ashore; and the next morning 
he began work at his trade at fourteen dollars 
a day. During the whole of the time he was 
in California he never worked for less than 
twelve dollars a day, and sometimes he made 
as high as twenty dollars by working over 
time. In 1S51 he came home to Connecticut 
via the Isthmus, the journey occupying about 
twenty days. 

In 1853 he was married to Mary Ann, 
daughter of John A. Niles, of Salem. She 
died six years later, leaving one son, John 
Sisson, who resides in Wallingford. He is 
employed by the Silver Plate Manufactory as 
a travelling agent, and has been all over 
America and Europe. He married Janette 
Watrous, of Essex. She died in the summer 
of 1895 in San Francisco, where she had gone 
with her son for her health. The son, Elli- 
son Cooper Sisson, is in the West in Oregon. 

Mr. Oliver W. Sisson has been a con- 
tractor and builder in Norwich, Hartford, 
and Salem, and has built many large and im- 
portant structures in this section of the State. 
As a politician he has always voted in the 
ranks of the Democratic party. For the last 
ten years he has made his home with his 
sister. 




ENRY AUGUSTUS BROWN,* of 
the well-known Brown Paint Com- 
pany, of New London, Conn., was 
born in the adjoining town of Waterford 
on December 28, 1830. His parents were 
Henry and Lucretia (Smith) Brown. Charles 
Brown, his paternal grandfather, also a native 
of this county, was a mariner in early life, 
attaining the position of mate on a deep sea 
merchantman. Later lie was for many years 
engaged in farming on Jordan Cone. He 
married, and lie and his wife reared four sons 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



■17' 



lughters. With the exceptii 
one daughter, they all married and had fam- 
ilies. All have now passed away. Grand- 
father Brown died in middle life; while his 
wife lived to be an old lady, dying in 1836. 
Their son Henry was horn at the homesl 
in 1799, and became a prosperous tanner, ac- 
quiring a good estate. He was twice mar- 
ried. His first wife, Lucy Prentiss, died in 
the prime of life, leaving live children, three 
ot whom are now living, namely: Charles A., 
who resides on Town Hill; J. 1'., who is a 
Baptist preacher in this city, and Frances, 
who also live on Town Hill. Lucretia 
Smith, who became his second wife, had four 
and three daughters, four of whom are 
now living: Ellen C, Mrs. Perkins, of this 
city, a widow: Henry Augustus; John X., 
of this city: and Phoebe, wife of Albert G. 
Langham, of Waterford. The father died 
about 1876, and the mother in 1884, at the 
age of eighty years. They were both highly 
respected members of the Waterford Baptist 
Church. 

Henry A. Brown was educated in the corn- 
school, and worked on his father's farm 
until he was seventeen years ot age, when lie 
am the sail -maker's trade with 
rhomas Holstrom, with whom 

wars. Me went into business for him- 
self in New London in 1853, and was prosper- 
ously engaged in sail-making till 1868, when 
obi out, and then turned his attention to 
ship-chandlery. The firm of H. A. Brown 
& Co. also engaged in canning fruit and \ 
tables, running the plant until (883, when 
the) thers. For three 

years th At. brow n mmercial 

traveller for Nichols & Harris, introducing 1 
ialty in New York, Pennsylvania, 
England. I le is now m 
company organized to carry on the whol 



il paint busini ;s. I heir plant, al 
comer of State and Bradley, has been a paint 
' for a quarter of a century, Mr. Brown 
having bought G Damon's interest. 

In October, 1S53, at the age ot twenty- 
. he married Susan C, daughter of Alvin 
B. Chappell. Her father was captain ■ 
coasting-vessel, lie died in 18.S4, at the age 
oi seventy-live, having long survived his wile, 
who died at th -i\, leaving one- 

child. Mis. Brown. The pleasant homi 
Mr. and .Mrs. Brown is at 17 Franklin Street. 
Their only child, a son named Elmer Brown, 
died at the age of two and a half years. Mr. 
Brown is a highly respected member of the 
Second Baptist Church, in which he offici 
as chairman of the Society and Church Com- 
mittee. In politics he is an independent 
voter. 



OSEPH A. DOAM:. ' Postmaster of 
ton City, was born here, An 
23, 1820. He is a descendant in the 
ninth generation from John 1 )oane. who came 
from England a few years after the "May- 
flower" Pilgri - living at Plymouth in 
1630 and 1633, and was afterward one of the 
founders of Eastham, Mass., where he died in 

The family coat of arms is still 
served. The lineage i- traced from the immi- 
grant ancestor through John. Jr., born 1 
who died in 1 70S : John, third; Elisha; Jo- 
seph; Joseph, Jr.; Captain John and Joseph 
II. Doane to Joseph A. The grandfather, 

tain John I >o ine, son ot foseph, f 
prominent resident Cod. was born 

Jul_\- 23, 1773, and removed to Norwich, 
Conn., in [805. He Eunice, daugh- 

ter of Joseph Howes, of Chatham, Mass., a 
memb '1 -known Cape ' lily. 

in I ' iring man, and 

sailed to is. His ship was sunk 



472 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



off Charleston by the British. He was at one 
time a man of wealth, and built the first 
steamboat of Norwich; but he met with heavy- 
reverses, and left only a moderate fortune at 
his decease. He died in New York City, 
April 13, 1818. Mrs. Doane died in Massa- 
chusetts, August 9, 1855, in the seventy- 
ninth year of her age. Both rest in the old 
Norwich Town cemetery. They had nine 
children, as follows: Marrinet, born in 
Chatham, October 2, 1794; Joseph H., born 
March 31, 1797, father of the subject of this 
sketch; Eunice, born in 1803; John G., born 
in 1805; Elisha, born in Norwich, December 
29, 1807; Elizabeth, born in 18 10; Emily, 
born in 1813; an infant daughter, who died in 
1800: and Harriet, who died in infancy in 18 17. 
Joseph H. Doane, the second son, started 
in life as a clerk in the store of James Treat, 
and became a prominent merchant and manu- 
facturer, the firm name of Treat & Doane, 
afterward Doane & Treat, being long well 
known in this section. He married F ranees 
Treat, born in Preston City, January 13, 1799, 
daughter of James and Polly (Stanton) Treat. 
She was descended from Richard Treat, born, 
it is said, in Pitminster, Somerset County, 
England, in 1584, who died soon after his ar- 
rival in Wethersfield, Conn., October ir, 
1669. He left three sons: Richard, Jr.; 
Robert Treat, who became the Governor of 
Connecticut; and James Treat, whose son, the 
Rev. Salmon, was the father of the Rev. Sam- 
uel Treat, the grandfather of Mrs. Doane. 
The eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. 
Doane were: Joseph, James, John, Emily, 
William, Eunice, Henry, Juliet. The only 
members of the family now living are: Will- 
iam, who resides in Cincinnati: Juiiet, who 
is in Cincinnati with her brother; Henry, who 
resides in Brooklyn, and is in business in 
New York City; and Joseph A., the subject 



of this sketch. The father died October 22, 
1854; and the mother died April 15, 1881, in 
the eighty-third year of her age. 

Joseph A. Doane, the eldest son of his par- 
ents, received a common-school education, 
with the additional advantage of six months' 
study at the Plainfield Academy. Entering 
his father's store at the age of sixteen, for 
many years he led an active mercantile life. 
When the war broke out, he went to the front 
as sutler in the Sixteenth Connecticut Regi- 
ment. He was captured by the Confederates 
at Plymouth, N.C., April 20, 1863. The 
garrison was marched to Tarboro, N.C., and 
thence went by rail to Atlanta Prison. From 
that place he was taken to Savannah, and then 
to Charleston, and from that city to the race 
course and the stockade. He was held a 
prisoner five months. 

Mr. Doane married December 8, 1886, Mrs. 
Lucy L. Elliot, widow of Calvin P. Elliot, 
and daughter of Robert P. and Polly C. Chase, 
natives of the State of Maine. Mrs. Elliot 
lost her first husband, December 30, 1872, 
and was left with two children — Mary Ella 
and Arthur C. Mary Ella married Frank G. 
Pope, and has one daughter, Mabel Alice, 
wife of Burt Smith. The Popes reside in 
Somerville, Mass. Arthur C. Elliot is a resi- 
dent of Brooklyn and Montclair. He married 
Emily E. Ponderhoof, and has two children — 
Mildred and Arthur C, Jr. Mrs. Doane had 
three brothers, who were all officers in the 
Civil War, namely : Alonzo Chase, who was shot 
on the field; Henry H., who was wounded at 
Baton Rouge, and died in New Orleans; and 
Leonard Chase, who had three horses killed 
under him, and who died in Kentucky, where 
he was a band leader. Their father was a ship- 
builder and a teacher of band music. 

Mr. and Mrs. Doane are both members oi 
tin- Baptist church. Mr. Doane is a Republi- 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



473 



can, and, as mentioned above, is Postmaster of 
the town. He has served several terms in 
the State legislature. He now lives retired 
on the farm which his lather settled in 1825. 
It was here that the Rev. Samuel Treat, his 
ancestor, was ordained in 1698. Preston City 
is not only one of the smallest cities in the 
world, but is a place of historic interest. 
Here was the home oi Edward Mott, one of 
the prime movers in the taking of Fort Ticon- 
deroga; and the house in which he lived is 
still standing, now one hundred and fifty 
years old. The house in which George Wash- 
ington was entertained by Samuel Mott, of 
Hunker Hill renown, was torn down about fif- 
teen years ago. Some of the legal lights of 
the State here read law with Judge Peters and 
with John M. Niles, and many other promi- 
nent names are connected with the town. 



Qri.FKKI) FANNING BROWN,* of 

f^X Jewett City, dealer in newspapers, 

J ™ V«_^ periodicals, notions, and jewelry, 

was bom in the town of Lisbon, February 17, 
1822, his parents being John II. and Emme- 
line (Freeman) Brown. His paternal grand- 
lather, who was a sea captain born in Eng- 
land, died in middle life, leaving two sons — 
John II. and Abijah — and two daughters. 
John II. Brown was bom in Warwick, R.I., 
in 1 800. and died in Jewett City in 1859. 
He came to this place in 1828, moving into a 
new house he had built, and in which he lived 
up to the time of his death. This house is 
now owned by Alfred F. Brown, who lias re- 
built and repaired it, and leases it to tenants. 
John II. Brown was a shoemaker by trade, and 
was known as conscientious and faithful in 
the performance oi all life's duties. His 
wife, Emmeline, who survived him eighteen 
-. dying in 1878, was the daughter of a 



French gentleman who came to America with 
General Lafayette, and fought for American 

independence. He married a lady of Ameri- 
can birth. John and Emmeline Brown, who 
were within three months of the same 

married young, and reared a family of 
eleven children. The eldest, John II. Brown, 
Jr., born in August, 1820, was eighteen 
months older than Alfred F. All oi this fam- 
ily are now deceased except Alfred P., 
Charles W. (the third child), and Mary, who 
is the wile oi Washington Smith itcr- 

bury, Conn. 

Alfred P. Brown received his elementary 
education in the public schools, and subse- 
quently attended a select school lor two 
terms. He taught during three winters, be- 
ginning when only fifteen years old. At ten 
years of age he began to work out by the 
month, receiving three dollars per month 
seven months, and bringing home twenty-one 
dollars. He continued working out summers 
lor nine ceiving five dollars per month 

the second season, seven dollars the third, and 
tor the last two seasons twelve dollars per 
month. At twenty years oi ago, in 1842, he 
entered the employ of the Slater Mill Com- 
pany as - and loom fixer. Ten j 
later he caught the "gold lever," and went to 
California, sailing round the Horn in the new- 
clipper ship "North America," with five hun- 
dred passengers, and being five months on the 
passage from New York to San Pi In 
1855 he returned home, but in four months 
went back to California, where he remained 
seven years longer. liming the ten years "I 
his residence there, he mined for gold on his 
own account in all kino iggings. He 
made no big strikes, but came home- with 
than he had when he went away. He 
has been engaged in business at his pn 
stand for thirty years. 



■17 I 



BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 



At the age of twenty years Mr. Brown was 
united in marriage with Abigail Mason, of 
Jewett City, who bore him two children — 
Abby E. and Mary 15. Abby is the wife of 
Denison J. Champlin, the jailer of Norwich. 
Mary died in middle life, the wife of Alonzo 
Allen. Mr. Brown married for his second 
wife, in 1865, Betsey E. Brown; and by this 
union there is one son, Alfred Fanning 
Brown, Jr. For nineteen years Mr. Brown 
served his fellow-townsmen as Postmaster, the 
only public position he has held, as, although 
a royal Republican and actively interested in 
town affairs, he has not generally cared to be a 
candidate. 




,KV. CHARLES J. HILL,* pastor of 
the Congregational church in Ston- 
ington, Conn., was born in Port- 
land, Me., February 2, 1830. His parents, 
George and Priscilla (Griffin) Hill, were both 
of English descent. George Hill, his father, 
was born in Portsmouth in 1786. When a 
young man, he was the Captain of an artillery 
company, and was ready with his associates to 
receive the British in 1814. lie was a mer- 
chant in Portland and afterward in Philadel- 
phia, where he carried on business until his 
death, January 1 1, 1857. He had nine 
children, seven sons and two daughters, of 
a four sons and one daughter are still 
living. 

Charles J. was the sixth-born son. lie- 
was fitted tor college at the high school in 
Philadelphia, and then spent a year in the 
e oi the city gas company, where he gained 
a most valuable experience. He was gradu- 
ated at Williams College in the class of 1852, 
and studied for the ministry the next two 

at the Union Theological Seminary in 
New York and during the two years following 



at the Andover Theological Seminary. He 
was ordained a Congregational minister. Janu- 
ary 28, 1857. His first pastorate was in 
Nashua, N.H., where he remained from 1S57 
to 1864. While in that city he met with a 
slight accident, on account of which he gave 
up his charge, and for six months devoted 
himself to the stud) 1 of medicine in the Berk- 
shire School, where he was visiting. The 
knowledge that he gained during those few 
months has since been of the greatest service 
to him. Once he was wrecked on Lake Erie 
with a number of others; and, as he was the 
only one in the party who had any knowledge 
of medicine, he was able to render valuable 
assistance. His second settlement was in 
1S65 at Gloversville, N.Y. , where he stayed 
three years. In 1868 he accepted a call to the 
Presbyterian church in Whitehall, N.Y. He 
stayed there four years, then moved to An- 
sonia, in Derby township, where he became 
the pastor of the Congregational church. In 
1875 he went abroad, making a short trip on 
the continent : and on his return he accepted 
a call to Middleton, Conn., where he stayed 
eight years. In 1885 he went abroad again, 
this time to visit England and Scotland. 
When he came hack, he was settled over the 
Congregational church in Stonington, where 
he has been ever since. 

He married March u, 1857, Martha O., a 
daughter of the late Rev. John Todd, D.D., 
for thirty years pastor of the First Congrega- 
tional Church of Pittsfield, Mass. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hill have three children: Annie W., 
the wile of William W. Harper, of Orleans, 
Va. : John Todd, a sculptor of New York; and 
Miriam, a young girl living at home. Air. 
and Mrs. Hill were among tin- forwarders of 
the Stonington Liberals, and Mr. Hill has 
been president and is now treasurer of the 
organization. 



INDEX. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



A. 

Alexander, Charles P 76 

Alexander, Thomas B. ... 366 

Allen. Mary E 269 

Allen, Ruth E 430 

Allyn, Calvin 225 

Allyn, Charles 399 

Allyn, Guidon F 254 

Allyn. James 134 

Allyn, John T 116 

Atwo id, Herman 438 

Avery, Christopher 1 2S5 

Ayer, George A 397 

Aver. Nathan II 13S 



B. 

s H 241 

Backus, Asa 27 

Morris W 56 

\ 37 

Bailey, Benjamin F 77 

larles A 324 

Bancn I le A 415 

er, ' >scar M 253 

Barnes. Chester W 346 

Bartlett. Charles G 165 

. Nathan 1 ) 361 

itl , C\ rus 1 ■ 18 

Beckv. 1 e W 421 

Beckwitl., John T 377 

tries G 69 

11 1 90 

Benham, William H i<j4 

Bentley, William H 220 



Bigelow, Asa K 33 

Bill, Jephthah G 335 

Bill, Palmer 63 

Billings, Sanford X 16 

Bindloss, T. Palmer .... 3S 

Bindloss, William P [93 

Bingham, James 465 

Bishop, Charles 263 

Bishop. Henry 353 

Bixler, Janus W 329 

Blake, S. Leroy 375 

1, John A 104 

Braman, Francis N 30 

I Iran) he. Henry W 427 

Brand, Dudley A 286 

I ton, Charles E 51 

Brewer, Edward P 218 

er, Frederick H 3S7 

1. Louisa J 78 

er, John 371 

way, Joshua E 291 

Broml G. ... 

hton, William F. . . . 449 

Brown, Alfred F 473 

Brown, llenrv A 470 

Brown, Israel F 72 

. James A [54 

Brown, I u< ius D 20S 

:. Theophilus 184 

Brown, William J 301 

.-. James F 1 73 

Bulkley, James 359 

liurch, Billings 146 

1, Horace 2S3 

Burdick, William II 133 

Bush, Austin J 409 

Hush, William H 413 



C. 

Calkins, Daniel 442 

Campbell, David R 126 

Cardwell, William H 394 

Caulkins. Herbert M 82 

Chadwick, Elmer M 3S1 

Chadwick, Richard W. ... 302 

Champion, Ann R 140 

Champion. Roger B 289 

Champion, Wallace K. . . . 159 

Champlin, Char! 421 

Champlin, Denison J 382 

Chesebro, Frederick D. . . . 

( Ihesebro, 1 (liver D 9S 

Chesebro. Samuel H 370 

Chester, Daniel W 171 

( Chester, Elisha S 4;^ 

Clark, Matthew S \-s 

Coit, Robert 276 

Congdon, Robert R 157 

Cottrell, Charles II 42S 

( harles H 453 

Crandall, S. Ashbel 308 

Crandall, Stiles ... 

Crane, Stephen 233 

Crocker. I dw ird N 48 



D. 

Harrow. Edmund 

Dart. Frederick II 336 

Davis, Jeremiah I 45! 

Dawes, Emeline F 440 

I )awley, A. 1 227 

Dawley, 1 1. F 

De Wolf, James E 



) 



47 6 



INDEX 



DeWolf, Winfield S. 
Doane, Joseph A. 
Douglass, J. Raymond 
1 (ovi ner, Henry B. . 
Drummond, 'J'homas 



E. 



Eldredge, George 
Ewen, Edmund R. 



Fairbrother, Lorenzo D. 
Farnsworth, Frederick . 
Fellows, George E. . . 
Fengar, George W. . . 
Fish, Nathan S. . . . 
Fish, Walter .... 
Fitch, Mary E. . . . 
Fitch, William . . . 
Fitzmaurice, Walter . . 
Forsyth, George . . . 

. th, Julia A. Latham 
Fraser, Daniel . . . 
Fr.iser, William A. . . 
Freeman, Victor O. . . 
Fuller, Joseph J. . . . 



Gallup, Austin O. 
Gallup, Henry H. 
Gardner, Frederick L. 

I). Lysted 
i ravin, James C. . . 
Gillet, Louisa B. . . 
Gillette, Isaac . . . 
Greene, William P. . 
i. Oliver C. . . 
Griswold, George L. 
( iriswold, Richard S. 
Guile, Alfred C. . . 
Gulliver, Daniel F. . 



PAGB 
425 

47' 
101 

M 
I.19 



121 
464 



335 

35 

414 

467 

453 

■74 

1 1 

10 

87 
60 
60 
422 
306 
277 
274 



100 
388 
3S0 
39o 

22'J 

'3 2 
21 I 



65 

36 
463 

I46 



Hall, Stephen H. . . 

Harris, Alonzo H. . . 

Harris, George R. . . 
Harris, Jonathan N. 
Harris, Nathaniel O. 

Harris, Orrin F. . . . 

Harvey, Elijah B. . • . 

Haven, George . . . 

Hazen, Curtis L. . . . 

Hempstead, Ezra J. . . 
Hempstead, George W. 
Hempstead, Julia A. 

Hempsted, Daniel B. . 

Herr, Joseph D. . . . 

Hewitt, Charles P. . . 

Hill, Charles J. . . . 

Hill, Mason C. . . . 

Hilliar, Bindloss H. . . 

Hinckley, Abel H. . . 

Hinckley, Elias B. . . 

Hobron, Daniel N. . . 

Holmes, Joseph W. . . 

Holt, William A. . . . 

Hough, Jabez B. . . . 

Howard, Elizabeth M. . 
Howard, George W. 

Hubbard, Harriet . . 

Hull, Latham . . . . 



PAGE 
I69 

241 

92 

'44 
85 
3" 
7' 
386 
226 
265 

454 
450 

94 
401 

437 
474 
297 

151 
'59 
"4 
"3 
342 
438 
52 
39° 
44'' 
178 
238 



Jackson, George O. . 
Jenkins, Benjamin W. 
Johnson, Henry C. . 



H. 



Hale, Almarin T. 
I [all v, Joshua . 
Hall, Joseph . 



Keefe, Edward 
Keeney, John M. 
Keeney, John W. 
Keeney, Nathan . 
Keeney, Lydia A. 
Kegwin, Erastus C. 
Kidder, Albert A. 



347 

>< , I. add, Frederick P. 
244 Ladd, William 



'83 
166 
300 



306 
81 
248 
148 
3'4 
235 
205 



320 
214 



Langworthy, James H 
Lathrop, Jabez S. 
Lathrop, John M. N. 
Lawson, Otto . . 
Lay, Daniel I. . . 
Lee, Benjamin H. 
Lee, William S. . 
Leffingwell, Joshua C 
Lennen, James 
Leonard, Joseph E 
Lewis, Ira F. . . 
Loosley, Daniel R. 
Lord, Reuben . . 
Luce, James V. 



M. 

Maine, Charles E. 
Maine, Charles O. 
Maine, Chester S. 
Mansfield, William H 
Manwaring, David C. 
Manwaring, Ellen B 
Manwaring, John W 
Martin, Ira J. . . 
McDonald, John E. 
Merritt, Francis E. 
Miner, Orrin E. . 
Miner, Richard K. 
Miner, Sidney . . 
Minor, George M. 
.Mitchell, John . . 
Moore, Egbert N. 
Moran, John . . 
Morgan, Alvah 
Morgan, Elijah A. 
Morgan, Mary E. 
Morgan, Nelson . 
Morgan, Sarah M. 
Morgan, Thomas F". 
Moss, William D. 
Muller, August 
Murray, Thomas . 



N. 

Niantic Manufacturing 
Norris, David A. . . 
Noyes, Eliza P. . . 
Noyes, Lydia W. . . 



'5 
08 
10 



INDEX 



IT 






Noyes, Nathan D. 
s, Nathaniel 1'. 



25" 



P 

i , Daniel F 33 

Packer, Thomas E 206 

Palmer, Henry C 64 

Palmer, Mollis H. ... 249 

Palmer, Jonathan J 151 

Palmer, Robert, Jr 237 

Palmer, Robert, Sr 

Park, Angus 126 

Park, John D 345 

Park. William 126 

, |. ihn L 66 

Pendleton. Harris 133 

Pendleton. James 405 

Pendleton. William E 42f> 

Perkins. Albert W 366 

Perkins, Charles C. . ... . . 230 

Perkins, William S. C 352 

Elisha 125 

Powers, Theodore F 243 

Pratt, Lewellyn 212 

Prest, Edward 217 

Prest, George 

R. 

all, Elias P > 

Rathbone, Harriet A 330 

Roath, Edwin A 313 

Roath, Louis P 321 

Robinson, Myron W 140 



-. George W 356 

Rogers, William D 305 

Rowland, James A [95 

Rudd, Arnold 153 



Schwaner, Charles H. ... 319 

Scott, Thomas A 1 1 1 

Sisson, Oliver W 469 

Sistare, William II 337 

B 341 

Slate, I 'hat leS 1 201 

Smith. James F [80 

Smith, Not man 29 

Smith, William P 344 

Spalding, Charles 327 

ing, Daniel B 21 

Spicer, Edward E 130 

Stanton, Marcia P 400 

risen, Peter .... 

Sterling, Stephen P 462 

Stivers. James H 419 

Symington, Frederick .... 375 



1 , Abel P 55 

1. Asahel 290 

r, Jonathan W 460 

Thompson, Thomas O. . . . 312 

Tibbetts, Frederick M. ... 406 

Tiffany, Allen 416 

Tillotson, \m. 5 B 328 

Tinker, Horace W 160 



Vaughn, Alfred II 207 

Carl J 15 



W 

Wait, John T 1 2.S 

II 348 

Ward, John 1 319 

Warren. Maria E 149 

Watroiis. Robert S 323 

Way, Willard J 270 

West. Henry E 338 

Wheeler, J. 122 

1 r, Silas 11 172 

IS W [23 

Whiton, David E 

Wilbur, Robert P 43 

Wilcox, Elias F 1 

Wilcox, Fanny A 

Wilcox. Thomas P 

Willi. o: min F. . . . 1 -') 
Willian les I). . . . 

Williams, Charles P 401. 

Williams, Iilias 

Williams. 1 [ezekiah U. 

Williams. James S 127 

Williams, Joseph S 103 



York, Horai 

Young, Geoi 



445 



PORTRAITS. 



Allen, Ruth E. (steel) .... 431 
Allyn, Mr. and Mrs. Calvin. 222. 223 

Allyn. Gurdon F 255 

Allyn, James 135 

Allyn, John T 117 

Aver. George A 396 

Backus, Asa 26 

Bacon, Morris W 57 

Beckwith, Cyrus G 19 

Beebe, Charles G 68 

Bill, Mr. ant! Mrs.Jephthah G., 332, 333 

Bill, Palmer 62 

Bindloss, T. Palmer (steel) . . 39 

Bindloss, William 191 

Bindloss, William P 192 

Bishop, Charles 262 

Bowen, John A 105 

Iiraman, Francis X 31 

Brand, Dudley * . . 287 

. . 50 

• • 
• 448 
■ '55 
209 



PAGE 

Calkins, Daniel 44-5 

Chadwick, Richard W 303 

Champlin, Denison J 383 

Crandall, S. Ashbel 309 

De Wolf, Winfield S 424 

Fish, Walter 175 

Griswold, George L 187 

Griswold, Richard S. . . facing 36 

Hall, Joseph 245 

Stephen H 168 

Harris. Nathaniel 84 

Hewitt, Charles P 436 

Howard, Charles S 391 

Hull, Latham 239 

Keeney, Nathan 149 

Ladd, William 215 

Lathrop, John M. N 74 

Lee, Benjamin H 456 

Luce, James V 2ii 

Maine, Charles 46 

Mansfield, William H 279 

Manwaring, Mr. and Mrs 

David C 317 

Miner, Richard K 199 



Miner, Sidney (steel) .... S 

Mitchell, John 13 

Morgan, Nelson 96 

M tiller, August 203 

Noyes, Benjamin F 411 

Pendleton, James 404 

Perkins, Albert W 367 

Perkins, Charles C 231 

Robinson. Myron W 141 

Rogers, George W 357 

Scott, Thomas A 110 

Sizer, John B 340 

Smith, James F 1S1 

Steffensen, Peter 294 

Symington, Frederick .... 374 
Tinker, Mr. and Mrs. Horace 

W 162, 163 

Wait, John T 129 

Walden, Charles H 349 

Way, Willard J 271 

Wheeler, Thomas W 123 

Williams, Hezekiah U. ... 89 






